The Freedom From Religion Foundation is delighted to highlight the extraordinary political influence of nonreligious Americans in the 2026 midterm elections.
New exit polling reveals that religiously unaffiliated voters played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of key races across the country. The election also marked a historic breakthrough for openly nonreligious candidates, who won unprecedented representation in Congress and state legislatures.
Religiously unaffiliated voters, commonly known as the “Nones,” accounted for 27 percent of the electorate, up from 24 percent in 2024, according to preliminary exit polling from NBC News. That makes nonreligious Americans a substantially larger voting bloc than white evangelical or born-again Christians, who accounted for just 17 percent of voters, down from 23 percent in 2024. The “Nones,” in fact, are the largest sector of the population by religious identification, surpassing any one denomination, including white evangelicals at 23 percent and Catholics at 19 percent.
“Candidates can’t afford to overlook nonreligious Americans as a political constituency,” asserts FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “For far too long, politicians have ignored the tens of millions of nonreligious voters while treating religious voters, particularly white evangelicals, as the defining voice of the American electorate. Atheists, agnostics and ‘nothing in particulars’ are a powerful and growing constituency, and our influence on American elections can no longer be ignored.”
The nonreligious electorate also demonstrated its considerable influence in competitive races. Nationally, about 78 percent of religiously unaffiliated voters supported Democratic congressional candidates, up roughly six to seven percentage points from 2024. In several closely watched Senate contests, nonreligious voters provided overwhelming support to candidates who otherwise lost among major religious groups.
For example, in Kansas, Adam Hamilton received 82 percent of the nonreligious vote despite losing among both Protestant and Catholic voters. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed received 76 percent of the nonreligious vote while winning votes from just 38 percent of Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics. In Texas, James Talarico received 77 percent of the nonreligious vote.
These results underscore the importance of religiously unaffiliated voters in determining electoral outcomes. Although no single demographic group can claim sole responsibility for an election victory, the scale of nonreligious support in these contests demonstrates that the “Nones” can swing elections and counter the white Christian nationalist vote.
Historic breakthroughs for openly nonreligious candidates
Beyond our influence as voters, openly nonreligious Americans also made history as candidates for public office.
Pennsylvania’s Chris Rabb will make history as the first openly atheist candidate elected to Congress. While Rep. Jared Huffman, an outspoken humanist who co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin, has publicly embraced his nonreligious identity, he did so after his initial election to Congress. Rabb’s election therefore marks a historic milestone for openly nonreligious representation in American politics. Notably, in his victory speech after the May primary, Rabb explicitly acknowledged and thanked atheists for helping secure his win, a rare moment of public recognition for our constituency.
Fred Wellman of Missouri also won election to Congress as an openly nonreligious candidate.
At the state level, openly nonreligious candidates achieved unprecedented representation. According to figures compiled by the Center for Freethought Equality PAC, more than 100 openly humanist, atheist, agnostic and nonreligious state legislators have now been elected across at least 38 states, surpassing the 81 previously identified before the election. The gains include first-time representation for openly nonreligious legislators in Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia.
Openly agnostic Jon Rosenthal beat his openly bigoted opponent, Bo French, for Texas’ railroad commissioner, who oversees regulation of the state’s oil and gas industry.
These victories represent an important milestone in a country where openly identifying as an atheist or agnostic has historically been considered a significant political disadvantage.
“For generations, nonreligious Americans have been told, implicitly and explicitly, that they are somehow less qualified to serve their country because they don’t believe in a god,” adds FFRF Co-President Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister. “These elections help dismantle that prejudice. Public service should be measured by integrity, competence and commitment to the Constitution, not religious belief.”
The results reflect continued support for the Congressional Freethought Caucus, with 30 of its 31 returning members winning re-election. The only loss was Rep. Jimmy Lopez, who ran against a fellow Democrat (because of California’s top-two jungle primary system). The caucus includes both religious and nonreligious lawmakers who support secular government, freethinkers’ rights, science-based public policy and the constitutional separation between church and state.
A changing electorate demands equal representation
As a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, FFRF does not endorse political candidates or parties. Instead, FFRF welcomes the growing recognition that nonreligious Americans are a substantial constituency entitled to the same respect, representation and constitutional protections as religious Americans.
Despite the growing number of nonreligious Americans, political rhetoric and government policy continue to disproportionately privilege religious perspectives, particularly conservative Christianity. FFRF has repeatedly challenged government-sponsored prayer, religious displays in public schools, taxpayer support for religious activities and other efforts to use public institutions to promote religion.
“I’ve been saying for years that the courts, politicians and candidates have not caught up with the changing secular demographics of our nation,” says Gaylor. “The lesson of this election is clear: Candidates ignore us at their peril. We Nones are demanding that elected officials uphold our secular Constitution and stop imposing religious doctrine through government.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 40,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
