The FFRF Action Fund is naming Hemant Mehta, better known to legions of readers as the “Friendly Atheist,” as its “Secularist of the Week.”
Hemant has been chosen for his extraordinary contributions to the secular movement and, in particular, his painstaking annual effort to document openly nonreligious candidates for public office. For years, Hemant has functioned as something close to the 24-hour news service of atheism and secularism. If a school board is pushing religion into classrooms, a politician is invoking God to justify public policy, a court hands down an important church-state ruling or a freethinker somewhere does something worth celebrating, there is a good chance Hemant has already written about it.
That relentless chronicling of the secular movement is itself an immense contribution. But one of Hemant’s most valuable recurring projects is his effort to answer a deceptively difficult question: How many openly nonreligious Americans are actually running for office?
This month, Hemant published his latest annual compilation of openly nonreligious candidates seeking state and federal office in 2026. Using information from the Center for Freethought Equality PAC, along with his own readers and research, Hemant has identified nearly 200 candidates who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, humanists, nonreligious or with other labels outside organized religion. He continues updating the list as candidates and readers provide additional information.
The numbers are striking. Hemant reports that a record 12 openly nonreligious candidates are running for Congress, while more than 70 are seeking re-election to state legislative seats. His database documents candidates across the country and demonstrates something that would be easy to miss without someone doing the tedious work of finding, verifying and compiling them: Openly nonreligious Americans are already participating in public life at every level.
That visibility matters.
Nonreligious Americans remain significantly underrepresented in elected office compared with their share of the American population. And stigma remains a barrier. Gallup polling has found that only about six in 10 Americans say they would vote for a generally well-qualified atheist presidential candidate from their own party.
A spreadsheet may not sound revolutionary. But you cannot understand representation if nobody bothers to document it. Every year, Hemant does exactly that. His work creates a historical record of nonreligious political representation, makes otherwise scattered information accessible to journalists and researchers, and provides a tangible measure of how openly secular Americans are participating in American democracy.
It also connects directly to a cause Hemant has championed for years.
When FFRF honored Hemant with its “Nothing Fails Like Prayer Award” at its 2019 national convention, he devoted much of his acceptance speech to the question of atheists in politics. He argued that atheist politicians should not govern on behalf of atheists. Quite the opposite. He emphasized the symbolic importance of nonreligious Americans simply being visible in public office and demonstrating that atheism need not disqualify anyone from public service.
Seven years later, his annual candidate project is documenting that change in real time.
Hemant’s contributions to freethought extend far beyond this spreadsheet. Raised in a Jain family, he became an atheist as a teenager and later founded the first nonreligious student organization at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He taught high school mathematics before eventually devoting himself full time to secular activism and writing. His books include “I Sold My Soul on eBay” and “The Young Atheist’s Survival Guide,” and he has edited “Queer Disbelief: Why LGBTQ Equality Is an Atheist Issue.” He has also served in leadership roles with the Secular Student Alliance and Foundation Beyond Belief.
But through “Friendly Atheist,” Hemant has become indispensable daily reading for much of the secular movement. His site continuously chronicles the intersection of religion, government and atheism — often drawing attention to local stories long before they receive broader notice.
The secular movement needs advocates, attorneys, organizers and elected officials. It also needs people willing to chronicle what is happening, day after day, year after year, so that important developments do not go unnoticed. Hemant Mehta has been doing that work for decades. Through his annual accounting of openly nonreligious candidates, he is ensuring that an important chapter in the growing visibility of secular Americans in public life is documented as it happens.
For his tireless work as the Friendly Atheist and his diligent efforts to document openly nonreligious representation in American politics, Hemant Mehta is the FFRF Action Fund’s “Secularist of the Week.”
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.