Today, New Hampshire primary voters are heading to the polls, but many politicos are already looking forward to the South Carolina primary, where religion will play a much greater role in determining voters’ choices. In this week’s post for “Figuring Faith,” Dr. Robert P. Jones illuminates why Rick Santorum, a Catholic, is actually a more apt ally for white evangelical Protestants. To learn more about where Santorum stands on hot-button issues like same-sex marriage, abortion and climate change, compared to American Catholics and the Catholic hierarchy, take a look at Dr. Jones’ piece:

Throughout his campaign and his time in the Senate, Santorum has unwaveringly opposed same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, recently declaring that children were better off with an imprisoned father than with two female parents. This is the first of many places where Santorum’s views are more aligned with evangelicals than American Catholics. A majority (52 percent) of Catholics support same-sex marriage, making them the most supportive of all major religious groups and slightly more supportive than the general population. By contrast, only 19 percent of white evangelical Protestants favor allowing same-sex couples to marry, while almost half (47 percent) strongly oppose it.

To read the rest, head over to Dr. Jones’ Washington Post blog, “Figuring Faith.”