MINNEAPOLIS _ Bill Moore opened his mailbox last week to find a survey from CatholicVote, a conservative group backing President Donald Trump, which proclaimed, "There is a war on Catholics and faith in God."
His St. Paul neighbors who watch a Catholic cable television channel soon will hear from Democratic challenger Joe Biden, whose campaign is launching TV spots here featuring Biden saying, "My father would say that the cardinal sin of all sins is the abuse of power."
The Catholic vote is being aggressively courted during these final weeks of the presidential campaign. Many Minnesota faithful are being targeted with mailings, text messages, phone calls and invitations to Zoom events that include praying the rosary with a nun.
Catholics comprise the largest single religious group in the nation, an estimated 23 % of the electorate. They're being targeted in battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
"Minnesota is a critical state for us in our path to 270 electoral votes," said John McCarthy, deputy national political director for the Biden campaign. "We're holding conversations with multiple constituencies, and a key piece is organizing the Catholic community."
Presidential candidates have long courted religious groups, including Catholics. But with Trump's slim margin of victory in 2016 in some heavily Catholic states, and evangelicals deemed a reliable vote for the president, eyes have turned to this sizable faith group.
"Given the size of Minnesota's Catholic population, and the role that Catholic voters play in our election, we believe that the Catholic vote can be decisive _ Minnesota included," said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, a pro-Trump group that has spent more than $10 million to date.
Many lifelong Catholics such as Moore, a retired labor union leader and former priest, are uneasy with this focus, arguing that religion is a personal, not political, issue. But they acknowledge that some faithful may be open to campaign persuasion.
"These are complicated times," said Moore. "If you're not a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat or Republican, it can be a confusing environment to make a decision in."
