(Photo: Getty/iStock)New polling suggests religion, immigration and abortion could shape key US Senate races in battleground states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Research by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) highlights significant differences in public opinion across Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and Michigan. Unlike Georgia and North Carolina, Michigan and Ohio are home to larger shares of white Catholics and white mainline Protestants. The polling suggests Hispanic Christian communities could prove influential in the closely fought Texas Senate race. The survey further found that white evangelical Protestants were the most likely to say American culture has deteriorated since the 1950s (67%), followed by Hispanic Protestants (58%), white Catholics and Hispanic Catholics (57% each), and white mainline Protestants (56%).