Most of the 72 openly secular legislators serve in state legislatures. Three legislators serve in the U.S. Congress, 54 serve in state houses (or lower chambers), and 15 serve in state senates (or upper chambers) or the unicameral Nebraska legislature.

The 69 openly secular state legislators account for just one percent of the 6,443 state legislators across 99 chambers. With at least 25% of the adult population identifying as nonreligious, there should be about 1,600 openly secular legislators: 1,100 representatives and 500 senators.

Tiers of Representation

Openly secular representatives come from states with 2,819 lower chamber seats and 458 upper chamber seats across 29 states. These states account for 52% of lower chamber seats and 23% of upper chamber seats. Openly secular legislators account for two percent of seats in these states.

I have divided the states into three tiers of representation depending on the number of openly secular representatives. Since the totals are low for all of them, I’ll just call them tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 rather than high, medium, and low representation. I explain the tiers below, and you can also see the map.

Tier 1 (4+ seats)

The first tier consists of five states who have between four and five openly secular legislators. These states account for 29 seats, meaning that 42% of all secular legislators come from these five states. These states are Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Vermont. On average, these states’ adult populations are 37% secular, making them roughly 50% more secular than the country as a whole.

Tier 2 (2-3 seats)

The second tier consists of 11 states; these have two or three legislators each. The states are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. Collectively, they account for 27 legislators, or 39% of all openly secular state legislators. On average, these states are 27% secular, similar to the overall share of nonreligious adults in the country.

Tier 3 (1 seat)

Thirteen legislators, 19% of all secular state legislators, come from states with just one openly secular legislator. These states, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington, are also 27% nonreligious on average.

Conclusion

With 29 states having at least one openly secular legislator, it means that 21 states have no secular legislators in the current term. On average, those states are below the national norm (22% nonreligious). However, this is an eclectic bunch of states. It includes the states with the lowest percentages of nonreligious populations, such as North Dakota (11%), Arkansas (13%), and Mississippi (14%). But also two states with relatively high shares of nonreligious populations like, Ohio and Virginia (30% each).

On the other hand, it is not surprising that the states with the highest numbers of openly secular legislators come from the states that have, on average, a higher share of nonreligious adults. Next week, I will continue dissecting secular representation in state legislatures.

Other News

• The Association of Secular Elected Officials (ASEO) just joined the Secular Coalition for America as a member. Coincidentally, “aseo” means cleanliness in Spanish, so I hope that they slowly clean elective bodies all over the country from Christian nationalist influences.