The newly elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, has not only cast ballots in the papal conclave, but in U.S. elections as well.
The Chicago-born pope — formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost — is registered to vote in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox, Ill., and has a mixed voting history of participating in primaries for both parties, according to voting records shared with CBS News and data from the Illinois State Board of Elections.
There is no party registration in Illinois, but to vote in a primary you have to choose a party’s ballot to vote on. Prevost has voted in more Republican primaries than Democratic, and the last primary election he voted in was the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
He last voted in the 2024 general election, though it is not known what party he voted for.
This is according to records, shared with CBS News by GOP consultant Jared Small, of Prevost’s files from “L2 Data,” a paid service used by political campaigns that has access to individual voter files provided by each state. CBS News has reached out to the Will County Clerk’s Office for copies of this data as well.
He voted in the Republican primaries in 2012, 2014 & 2016, including the presidential primaries in 2012 and 2016.
L2 Data records show he last voted in a Democratic primary in 2010. He had also voted in the party’s presidential primary in 2008.
He has voted in at least nine general elections, including in five presidential election cycles: 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2024. There’s no record of him voting in the 2016 or 2020 general election.
Records show he also voted in a “consolidated general election” in April 2001, when local Illinois offices were on the ballot.
Social media posts in February by an X account under Prevost’s name include two articles critical of Republican Vice President JD Vance, and a 2015 Washington Post op-ed written by American Cardinal Timothy Dolan titled “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”
Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance congratulated Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, and Mr. Trump told reporters it was “such an honor for our country” to have an American pope.
The new pope had studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago and was ordained a priest in 1982. He had served multiple positions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago. He is also a fan of the Chicago White Sox professional baseball team, according to a WGN interview with his brother John Prevost.