As a follow up to the previous post, here's some of the raw data for the ARIS. I sorted by "Nones" for 2008.
| None '90 | None '08 | Christian '90 | Christian '08 | Δ Christian | Δ None | |
| VT | 13 | 34 | 84 | 55 | -29 | 21 |
| NH | 9 | 29 | 85 | 62 | -23 | 20 |
| WY | 14 | 28 | 74 | 67 | -7 | 14 |
| ME | 11 | 25 | 85 | 69 | -16 | 14 |
| WA | 15 | 25 | 79 | 64 | -15 | 10 |
| NV | 14 | 24 | 80 | 64 | -16 | 10 |
| OR | 18 | 24 | 77 | 66 | -11 | 6 |
| DE | 7 | 23 | 85 | 74 | -11 | 16 |
| ID | 13 | 23 | 84 | 69 | -15 | 10 |
| MA | 8 | 22 | 83 | 65 | -18 | 14 |
| CO | 13 | 21 | 81 | 70 | -11 | 8 |
| MT | 11 | 21 | 86 | 70 | -16 | 10 |
| RI | 6 | 19 | 88 | 74 | -14 | 13 |
| CA | 14 | 18 | 78 | 72 | -6 | 4 |
| AZ | 13 | 17 | 81 | 73 | -8 | 4 |
| NE | 7 | 17 | 89 | 75 | -14 | 10 |
| OH | 8 | 17 | 88 | 76 | -12 | 9 |
| MI | 9 | 16 | 86 | 75 | -11 | 7 |
| NM | 11 | 16 | 85 | 74 | -11 | 5 |
| IA | 7 | 15 | 91 | 76 | -15 | 8 |
| IN | 8 | 15 | 88 | 78 | -10 | 7 |
| NJ | 6 | 15 | 86 | 72 | -14 | 9 |
| PA | 6 | 15 | 89 | 77 | -12 | 9 |
| VA | 7 | 15 | 88 | 76 | -12 | 8 |
| WI | 6 | 15 | 91 | 76 | -15 | 9 |
| WV | 8 | 15 | 89 | 77 | -12 | 7 |
| CT | 6 | 14 | 86 | 74 | -12 | 8 |
| FL | 8 | 14 | 85 | 76 | -9 | 6 |
| MO | 7 | 14 | 89 | 79 | -10 | 7 |
| NY | 7 | 14 | 80 | 71 | -9 | 7 |
| UT | 9 | 14 | 87 | 78 | -9 | 5 |
| IL | 8 | 13 | 86 | 77 | -9 | 5 |
| KY | 7 | 13 | 90 | 80 | -10 | 6 |
| MD | 8 | 13 | 86 | 76 | -10 | 5 |
| MN | 6 | 12 | 90 | 80 | -10 | 6 |
| SD | 4 | 12 | 95 | 78 | -17 | 8 |
| TX | 5 | 12 | 91 | 80 | -11 | 7 |
| AL | 4 | 11 | 93 | 86 | -7 | 7 |
| KS | 6 | 11 | 91 | 82 | -9 | 5 |
| OK | 7 | 11 | 87 | 80 | -7 | 4 |
| NC | 5 | 10 | 92 | 82 | -10 | 5 |
| SC | 3 | 10 | 94 | 83 | -11 | 7 |
| GA | 5 | 9 | 92 | 81 | -11 | 4 |
| TN | 6 | 9 | 92 | 83 | -9 | 3 |
| AR | 6 | 8 | 90 | 87 | -3 | 2 |
| LA | 3 | 8 | 96 | 88 | -8 | 5 |
| ND | 2 | 7 | 95 | 90 | -5 | 5 |
| MS | 3 | 5 | 95 | 91 | -4 | 2 |
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The 13 most religious states are hard-core Republican in Presidential races and Republican or conservative Democrat in Congress. Then at #14 comes Minnesota, which since 1972 has been the 3rd most reliably Democratic state in Presidential (after Massachusetts and DC).
Explanation? First, Minnesota has a very conservative Republican Party and a pretty liberal Democratic Party. It's actually "moderate" by now, but all this means is that the extremes are balanced. In state and Congressional politics Republicans do very well. So it's a bit of a matter of luck that the Democarts have done so well Presidentially.
Second, though, Minnesota believers mostly belong to mainline liturgical churches (Lutheran, Catholic, and Orthodox; Episcopals are the other liturgical church but aren't common in Minnesota.) America's conservative Christians belong mostly to non-liturgical fundamentalist, pentecostal, or charismatic churches od British origin. (Even Methodists and Presbyterians are not especially conservative).