It’s been a very busy few months at FFRF Action Fund, the advocacy/legislative arm of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and we’re definitely not taking the summer off. We have fully implemented our Dynamic Scorecard, finalized our endorsement process, developed an Express Endorsement Process for candidates who are incumbents or endorsed by key partners, rolled out key endorsements for federal, state, local and school board candidates, elevated and led on critical bills such as the Health Share Transparency Act, judicial reform bills, and repealing the Comstock Act. We have developed focus groups on Gen-Z non-religious voters in the key swing state of Wisconsin, paved the way for FFRF to underwrite four campaign fellows at critical universities in Wisconsin to focus on voter registration and pledges to vote, celebrated our community and victories by establishing the first Congressional Reason Reception on the Hill with the Congressional Freethought Caucus, and provided support to the founding of the Project 2025 Task Force.
All of these achievements have been possible because we developed our strategic goals to engage and turn out nonreligious voters, empower the Congressional Freethought Caucus, and increase FFRF AF’s influence. We are well-positioned to have a strong influence in the 2024 election and beyond.
In this edition of Mark on the Hill, I will discuss how we developed and implemented our key achievements in the past few months, how they enhance our strategic goals, and how they blunt Project 2025 and Christian nationalism.
Engaging and turning out non-religious voters — Gen Z focus groups and campus organizing fellows
In our debut year, we’re targeting Gen Z voters, the least religious generation in modern American history, who will be a critical voting bloc in the 2024 election. We launched a series of focus groups to learn what influences non-religious Gen Z registered voters in Wisconsin. We discovered that Gen Z voters understand the importance of this election, and despite the lack of enthusiasm for the presidential candidates at the time of the focus groups (May), it did not quell their interest in voting in November. They were nevertheless committed to voting based on which candidate(s) best represent their values.
They fundamentally feel their voices are not heard in the current zeitgeist dominated by the loudest, most extreme voices. Gen Z voters are not apathetic but profoundly concerned about the direction of the country and remain cautiously optimistic that progress is still possible. They expressed strong interest in voting this year, seeing voting as the great equalizer to having their voices heard. They also believe their vote carries more weight as voters in a swing state — and this presents a compelling reason to vote.
To increase our targeted efforts in promoting voter awareness among nonreligious Gen Z students, we did some legwork with some of our strategic partners in Wisconsin to make hiring four campus organizing fellows possible. Because our parent group FFRF can engage in voter awareness, FFRF is underwriting four stipends for these campus organizing fellows, who will start working in late August and continue into the election to help with voter registration and pledge-to-vote cards. The fellows are targeting three key universities with historically low areas of voter participation in the past ten years.
Empowering the Congressional Freethought Caucus — Project 2025 Taskforce, Reason Reception
The Congressional Freethought Caucus continues to grow. There are now 23 members, and no member has lost a general election. In the past few months, we worked with its co-chair, Rep. Jared Huffman, who has become outspoken on the dangers of Project 2025 and formed the Stop Project 2025 task force, of which we are a supporting member. We helped elevate the issue, worked with members on joining the task force, and supported the task force’s legislative program. Because of Huffman’s work in leading the Project 2025 Taskforce, the Congressional Freethought Caucus has grown in influence on the Hill and with the public as a whole.
We further empowered the Congressional Freethought Caucus by hosting the first annual Congressional Reason Reception on the Hill in early May for the National Day of Reason with our key partners at the American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America. The event was an antidote to the doom and gloom and victimization that is rampant in Christian nationalist circles. Our event focused on the wit and joy of the secular movement, featuring Kate Cohen from The Washington Post. The event was standing room-only and attended by key staffers and several members of Congress.
Increasing FFRF AF’s influence on the Hill — Dynamic Scorecard and legislative agenda
In the past few months, FFRF AF has finalized our endorsement process for federal, state, local and school board candidates. We made school board endorsements a critical part of our program because of FFRF’s historic work in championing secular public education and legal work to combat forced prayer in schools. We saw a strategic opportunity to bolster school board candidates where reliable information about candidates is often sparse, and FFRF AF can help shift some focus from the top of the ticket that often monopolizes the public’s attention and resources.
We have developed key relationships with the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, We the People for Education, and Our Schools USA to launch our Express Endorsement Program. These allied groups have values similar to those of FFRF AF and have a candidate viability requirement. This program helps to leverage a campaign’s scarce resources where we can work with candidates endorsed by our allied partners on their position on the separation of state and church. We have endorsed 11 federal, 16 state, one city/county, and four school board candidates to date. All advocates living in the states of endorsed candidates are directly notified by FFRF AF of these endorsements and receive background information.
A key part of stopping Project 2025 is to implement FFRF AF’s legislative agenda. This includes repealing the Comstock Act, an “anti-obscenity” law from the 1800s that originally prohibited mailing equipment or medication used for abortion. Although it’s a “zombie” statute, a future Trump administration, guided by Project 2025 and extremists on the high court, will undoubtedly enforce it. Our agenda also includes judicial reform, curbing religious influence in healthcare with the Health Share Transparency Act, codifying access to abortion and reproductive care with the Women’s Health Protection Act, and securing federal rights from religious influence with the Do No Harm Act. FFRF AF’s Dynamic Scorecard includes all these bills. The Dynamic Scorecard has helped us increase co-sponsorship on key bills and has increased FFRF AF’s influence and weight on the Hill.
FFRF AF is playing a leading role in the Stop The Comstock Coalition. We plan on lobbying for the bill, elevating fellow coalition members on FFRF’s media channels, engaging our members and the electorate in Wisconsin with op-eds about the Comstock Act, and encouraging the Congressional Freethought Caucus members to support the bill.
We will continue to work with our key allies in the Unrig the Courts Coalition to bring the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to a vote in the Senate and to increase support for the Judiciary Act to check the Supreme Court’s power and propensity to support Project 2025.
Conclusion
Since establishing the Action Fund, we have significantly expanded our capabilities. We have increased our lobbying efforts, endorsed candidates who align with our values, and advocated for them. Our Dynamic Scorecard allows us to track and influence vital legislative priorities, and our Express Endorsement Program helps us support viable candidates at all levels of government.
Creating the FFRF Action Fund has also enabled us to establish strategic partnerships, whose alliances amplify our impact and broaden our reach. Additionally, our work with the Congressional Freethought Caucus has strengthened our presence on the Hill, giving us a more prominent voice in the fight against Christian nationalism and Project 2025. We can now support nonbelievers’ rights and the separation of state and church more effectively than ever before. We know that the 2024 election will be challenging, and we are well prepared to manage the election outcomes, no matter what they are.