
The  so-called "God Gap" between Republicans and Democrats continues to play  an important role in partisan differences, according to a new Gallup  poll.
 
 Among very religious Americans, about half, 49 percent, identify  as Republican or are likely to vote Republican. Among nonreligious  Americans, also about half, 52 percent, identify as Democrats or are  likely to vote for Democrats.
 
 This God gap, sometimes called the "religious participation gap,"  has characterized party politics in the United States for at least the  seven years that Gallup has been measuring it, Frank Newport, editor in  chief for Gallup, pointed out in a blog post.
 
 Religiosity was measured using two survey questions. One asked  respondents how important religion is in their daily lives. The other  asked how often they attend religious services. With the answers, Gallup  created a three category classification — very religious, moderately  religious and nonreligious.
 
 Among the moderately religious, a plurality, 44 percent, supported  the Democrats while 38 percent supported Republicans. Independents  comprised a slightly greater proportion of the nonreligious, 15 percent,  than the religious, 11 percent.
 
 Looking at race and ethnicity, the God Gap persisted among whites,  Latinos and Asians, but not among blacks. Blacks showed strong support  for Democrats, about 75 percent, regardless of their level of  religiosity.
 
 "From a practical politics standpoint," Newport wrote,  "Republicans face the challenge of expanding their party's appeal beyond  the minority of Americans who are very religious, and appealing to  Hispanics and Asians given that even the most religious of these growing  groups tilt Democratic, albeit not as much as others in these groups  who are less religious. Democrats face the challenge of attempting to  broaden their party's appeal beyond the base of those who are moderately  or nonreligious, a tactic that most likely will require effort to frame  the party's positions on social justice and equality issues in a way  that is compatible with a high degree of religiousness."
 
 The poll of 87,023 American adults was taken from January to June.  The margin of error is plus or minus one percentage point.