Every Republican gets religion in social conservative bastions like Iowa—even Donald Trump. But that’s typically scrapped upon entry into New Hampshire. Not so for Ted Cruz, who is apparently finding a religious audience there, reports Katie Glueck.
In New Hampshire, the second-most secular state in the country following only nearby Vermont, Cruz is leaning hard into his evangelical persona. He isn’t roaring like a preacher here the way he does in Iowa and South Carolina, but the religious rhetoric is virtually the same—and it plays well with a small but increasingly committed group of Christian conservative voters who appreciate the emphasis on faith, or at a minimum aren’t bothered by it.
“Absolutely, it’s a plus,” said Colleen Garrity, 55, of Cruz’s openness with his faith. Garrity is torn between Cruz and Chris Christie, while her husband, Tom, was won over by Cruz after seeing him speak at a diner earlier in the day in Tilton, N.H. “Faith is very important to us. We’re both Christians, we’re very involved in church, we make decisions based on, ‘What would Jesus do?’”
The Granite State ... for real? But one thing Cruz’s religious schtick does do for him in a crowded field is separate him from the pack (think Christie, Trump, Rubio). He doesn’t need a first-place finish there—just a respectable finish.