Hi John,

 

I am sure you share the dismay of the vast majority of the humanist and atheist community, and our allies, that fear and hate won the 2024 election. Voters who supported Donald Trump did so for a wide variety of reasons; however, the core supporters who made his campaign possible are the xenophobic, misogynistic, racist, bigoted, anti-science, and homophobic crusaders of white Christian nationalism. With control of the White House, Supreme Court, Senate, and perhaps the House of Representatives too, the implementation of their vision for America, as described in Project 2025, will have few institutional barriers; however, we are not backing down and will continue our work to increase our political clout to build a safer, saner, and more secular America. Despite the national results, we still have a growing number of elected officials who publicly identify with our community (see below). 

 

 

As you know, the Center for Freethought Equality is the political and advocacy arm of the American Humanist Association, and we applaud the successes of humanist, atheist, agnostic, and nonreligious candidates like Carlos Guillermo Smith, who won a seat in the Florida State Senate; Heather Goulding, who won a seat in the Nevada State Assembly; Brian Close, who won a seat in the Montana State House, Sarah Keyeski, who won a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate, and Frank Burns, who won a seat in the Delaware State House. They will join members of the humanist and atheist community who won re-election like Athena Hollins, a state representative in Minnesota; Jon Rosenthal, a state representative in Texas, Heather Meyer, a state representative in Kansas; Chris Rabb, a state representative in Pennsylvania; Julie Mayfield, a state senator in North Carolina; and Jared Huffman, a member of the U.S. Congress from California. 

 

You can see the full list of the Center for Freethought Equality's 2024 endorsements and their election results can be found here. We still have seven contests that are too close to call! The Center for Freethought Equality is proud of all the humanist, atheist, agnostic, and nonreligious candidates who ran for office this year, and the growing engagement of our community in the political process. 

 

These elected officials did not just happen to publicly identify with our community. The Center for Freethought Equality does extensive outreach to candidates and elected officials to show that there is an humanist and atheist community to support them, demonstrate that being their authentic selves will not end their careers, and encourages members of our community to run for office. Our elected officials will work against the efforts of white Christian nationalism to build a future for a safer, saner, stronger, and more secular America. More than a quarter of our country’s population identifies as religiously unaffiliated, and we are making our values known at the ballot box and are running for – and winning – seats in public office.

 

Prior to the 2016 election there were only five elected officials serving in state legislatures who publicly identified with the humanist and atheist community. After the 2016 election that number grew to 17, 47 after the 2018 election, 63 after the 2020 election, and 72 after the 2022 election. Once the newly elected officials are sworn into office in 2025, there will be over 75 humanist and atheist elected officials at the federal and state level serving in 33 states (we still have 7 races that are too close to call). A list of current and former humanist and atheist federal, state, and local elected officials can be seen here.  

 

"We're excited to see more humanists, atheists, and agnostics elected to public office. First, because everyone in our country deserves to see themselves reflected in their leaders. Second, because of our commitment to reason, compassion, and respecting the inherent and equal worth of all people: humanists make damn good policy," said Fish Stark, executive director of the Center for Freethought Equality and American Humanist Association.

 

 

Sincerely,

Ron Millar

Political & PAC Manager