In addition to his academic writing, Balmer has published commentaries in newspapers across the country, including The Des Moines Register, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Dallas Morning News, the Omaha World-Herald, the Los Angeles Times, the Anchorage Daily News, the Hartford Courant, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New York Newsday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The New York Times, among others.
[2] Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for scriptwriting and hosting the three-part PBS documentary Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, based on his book with the same title.
[1] He also wrote and hosted two other PBS documentaries: Crusade: The Life of Billy Graham and In the Beginning: The Creationist Controversy.
In an article titled "Jesus is not a Republican" in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Balmer writes: Indeed, the most effective and vigorous religious movements in American history have identified with the downtrodden and have positioned themselves on the fringes of society rather than at the centers of power.
My evangelical theology assures me that no one, not even Karl Rove or James Dobson, lies beyond the reach of redemption, and that even a people led astray can find their way home.
Balmer ran in the general election against incumbent Republican John H. Frey, despite the fact that Balmer had lived in the district for less than three years, Frey had never drawn an opponent, and the town of Ridgefield (which the 111th District represents) was "two-to-one Republican.