PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: U.S. voting data shows that the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV—formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, Illinois—is a registered Republican and has voted in a number of Republican primary elections in the past. Additionally, voter modeling suggests he is a conservative Republican voter.

👥 Who’s Involved: Pope Leo XIV.

📍 Where & When: May 8, 2025, the Vatican in Rome, Italy.

💬 Key Quote: Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV. He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad,” Turning Point Action’s Charlie Kirk wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He added: “Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life.”

⚠️ Impact: While not conclusive as to what the theological and ideological temperament of Pope Leo XIV might be, the data suggests that the new pontiff does represent a break from the more progressive excesses of his predecessor, the late Pope Francis.

IN FULL:

With the election of Chicago-born American Cardinal Robert Prevost to the papacy, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, we can, for the first time, actually know—to an extent—the political voting history of a pontiff in American elections. An American citizen, Pope Leo XIV is a registered member of the Republican Party and cast Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

“Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV. He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad,” Turning Point Action’s Charlie Kirk wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life.”

Notably, the new pontiff has also cast ballots in a number of general elections in the United States in both presidential and midterm cycles. Pope Leo XIV voted in all U.S. general elections between 2000 and 2008, casting a ballot again in 2012 and 2014, and in 2018 and 2024. Additionally, according to voter modeling by Turning Point Action, Pope Leo XIV is categorized as having a generally conservative political ideology and a strong Republican partisanship rating.

SCOOP: Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV.

He's a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad.

Our data shows he's a strong Republican, and he's pro-life. pic.twitter.com/q9q6hiokiH

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 8, 2025

The election and modeling data may provide hope for some of the more traditionalist factions in the Catholic Church, who want the new pontiff to provide a reprieve from the late Pope Francis‘s more “progressive” papacy. However, it is important to note that outside the modeling, it is unknown which candidates for public office were actually supported by Pope Leo XIV, with more moderate Republicans being just as likely as more conservative candidates.

Throwing some cold water on the idea that Pope Leo XIV may in some ways embody a more American conservative style of Catholicism is his history of criticism of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance over their immigration policy on social media. The National Pulse reported earlier on Thursday that then-Cardinal Robert Prevost had shared several articles on X attacking both Trump and Vance over their deportation and immigration restriction policies.