Non-religious voters wield clout, tilt heavily Democratic

When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings they aren't there for a happy hour.

David Brown, a founder from the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore, said that they don't pat themselves on the back if they don't believe in God together.

He said that the group mobilizes to knock on doors and make phone calls for Democratic candidates who are pro-science, pro-democracy. Keeping church and state separate is our goal. That includes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people.

The group is riding a big wave.

Democratic candidates and abortion rights were supported by voters who did not have a religion.

They are voting in big numbers. More than 94,000 voters nationwide were surveyed by AP VoteCast and it was found that 22% of them claimed no religious affiliation. They played a role in giving Democrats victories in battleground states.

According to VoteCast, the "nones" voted for Democratic House candidates nationwide over Republicans. In the 2020 president election, Democrat Joe Biden took the majority of voters with no religious affiliation, while Republican Donald Trump took 25%.

The unaffiliated are making their presence felt despite the fact that white evangelical Christians voted overwhelmingly for the Republican party.

According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 29% of US adults are nones. The percentage is up from a decade ago. The younger the adults, the more likely they are to be without a political party.

Ryan Burge is a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University who focuses on the interaction of religion and politics.

The number of evangelicals is greater than the number of unbelievers. Burge said that they are more likely to join a protest than evangelicals.

He said that they are important at the ballot box because of how involved they are.

According to VoteCast, the nones were equal to 22% of the electorate, but less than half of the figure for Protestants and other Christians. 3% Jewish and 1% Muslim were included in the total.

Thirty percent of voters identified as born again or evangelical Christians.

The impact of the secular vote was felt in several bellwether races.

Four in five people with no religious affiliations voted against abortion restrictions.

Between two-thirds and three-quarters of nones supported Democratic candidates.

Four in five people with no religion voted for the Democrats to win Pennsylvania's governor and senator.

Fetterman has not incorporated any religious tradition in his statements. He often frames issues in ethical terms, such as promoting criminal justice reform and raising the minimum wage.

A request for comment was not returned.

The secular population is made up of many different groups. Burge said that two-thirds of the people identified as nothing in particular.

Atheist and atheist have heavy involvement in politics and punch above their weight.

There are two trends of a growing secular cohort among Democrats and an increased religiosity of Republicans.

Christian nationalism is promoted by several prominent Republican candidates and their supporters.

According to Burge, the Democratic Party has become the party for the non- religious people.

They're not the only ones. Black Protestants, liberals Jews, and Catholics of color make up the majority of the Democratic coalition. Moderate and progressive policies are supported by a large base of black church goers.

Burge said that the Democrats have the biggest problem in the world because they have to keep the two groups happy.

When the Democratic National Committee passed a resolution praising the religiously unaffiliated, some saw it as denigrating and overstating their clout.

In VoteCast, there were differences between secular and religious democrats. 6 in 10 Democratic voters who don't have a religion say abortion should be legal most of the time, but 4 in 10 Democratic voters who do have a religion say it should never be legal. Christians who voted for Democrats were less likely to identify as liberal than those who didn't.

Bishop William Barber is a leader in one of the nation's most prominent faith based progressive movements.

"Jesus didn't worry about it, so why would I?" asked the president of Repairers of the Breach, who called for moral advocacy by faith and other leaders on behalf of the poor, immigrants and other marginalized communities. The one who is against me is for me.

The co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign said that they have a lot of people who claim they're not religious. They will say, "I don't believe in God, but I believe in right." Love is something I believe in. I think injustice is something I believe in.

Brown, of the Secular Democrats group in Pennsylvania, said he had no problem with supporting a candidate who talked about his Jewish values. Christian nationalist themes and imagery were used in the campaign of his opponent.

Brown said that he was frustrated that politicians felt the need to justify their doing the right thing by religious affiliation, but that he appreciated that it was a calculated decision to appeal to religious voters. I think it was in the interest of defeating a Christian nationalist candidate.

In late November, Brown traveled to Georgia to campaign door-to-door for the Democratic candidate in the Georgia Senate race. He sees similarities between the values of secular voters and those of religious people.

That's right.

Emily Swanson is from Washington.

That's right.

Lilly Endowment Inc. gives funding to the AP for religion coverage.