In Washington state, atheists are more beloved than Republicans

A new survey finds that Washington residents are turned off by Republicans more than any other group

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Every presidential election year, you’ll see surveys about electability. Ones that ask Americans if they’d consider voting for a woman, Black person, gay person, etc. Gallup, for example, always asks Americans a version of this question: “If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be _____, would you vote for that person?”

Image via Adobe Spark

And just about every time they’ve asked that question, “atheist” has been at or near the bottom of the list. (Atheists are unelectable! the subsequent headlines say.)

In 2012, there was some cause for celebration because more than half of those surveyed (54%) said they wouldn’t hold atheism against a politician. Then, in 2015, for the first time ever, “atheist,” now with 58% support, wasn’t the worst trait in a presidential candidate. A “Socialist” performed slightly worse. (Thanks, Bernie Sanders!)

In 2019, Gallup found that while there was no change in the unpopularity of “Socialist”—only 47% of Americans would support that candidate—“atheist” received another tiny jump. A record 60% of respondents said they would consider voting for an atheist. It was still next to last on the list. But it was clearly becoming less of a stigma. (A year later, Gallup affirmed those results in an updated survey.)

It wasn’t all good news though. While just about every category Gallup asked about saw an increase in support, suggesting Americans are becoming comfortable with a more diverse group of candidates, including gay or lesbian ones, “atheist” saw the smallest increase since 2015 among those polling at below 90%, an uptick of only 2%.

In fact, earlier this year, the last time Gallup released this kind of survey, “atheist” hadn’t budged. We were stagnant at 60% support. It was interesting, though, that people were more open to voting for an atheist than a Socialist (42%), octogenarian (31%), alleged felon (29%), or convicted felon (23%).

All of the surveys I just mentioned took place at the national level. I can’t recall ever seeing a state-level version of that question… until now.

Last month, a group called DHM Research surveyed 500 residents in Washington (state) to gauge their opinions about a variety of issues. That included asking them about their feelings about various (politically relevant) groups: Gun owners, immigrants, transgender people, etc. They were asked how they felt about those groups on a scale of 0 (hate them) to 100 (love them).

Washington is a relatively blue state. It won’t surprise you that they felt “warmer” toward Democrats than Republicans and that they’re not especially fond of gun owners. “Rural Washingtonians” ranked highest.

What may be surprising, however, is that they disliked Republicans (44.6) a hell of a lot more than they disliked atheists (50.1).

Republicans were actually the lowest-ranked group on the list—and the only group that scored below 50. To put it another way, being an open Republican is a bigger political liability than being openly non-religious.

Danny Westneat, a columnist for the Seattle Times and a non-religious person himself, can’t believe it:

Republicans, take it from me, if you’re below the atheists, you’re having a major brand perception crisis.

Republicans were perceived relatively poorly across the board — by women and men, rich and poor, young and old, the poll found. Republicans did best in Eastern Washington and worst in King County, where 37% gave them the iciest ranking.

The reasons for this were not explored. My sense, which I’ve stated repeatedly in this space, is that the complete takeover of the party by Donald Trump and his MAGA movement has made it toxic to the lion’s share of voters here.

Westneat goes on to say that several Republicans on the ballot in Washington this November might actually be electable. They’re not MAGA cultists. They’re the sort of people who could earn votes across the political spectrum. But the stench of being a Republican could doom their chances of winning. At the very least, the (R) next to their names on the ballot will hurt them more than help them.

“It suggests the party is again staggering toward a shutout in all nine statewide campaigns,” writes Westneat.

Consider how this suffocates someone like [Raul] Garcia, the promising GOP Senate candidate. He’s refusing to endorse Trump, which he deserves some credit for because somebody has to start the separation. But it’s also too little, too late. Due to his own party’s cultlike fealty, he’s got Trump wrapped around his neck anyway, and it’s sinking him along with all the others.

That local Republicans have been so willing to destroy themselves and their up-and-coming candidates in the service of this one man is one of the most baffling, imponderable things I’ve ever witnessed.

It’s so inexplicable, it almost feels … religious.

Maybe “inexplicable” goes too far. I’ll give it a shot: People used to fear atheists because they didn’t know any and relied on negative stereotypes about them. Their fears were rooted in ignorance. If there was a great candidate who happened to be an atheist, I suspect you’d see those favorability numbers jump quickly. We’ve seen that happen with openly gay candidates too. Their numbers in the Gallup poll went from 29% support in 1983, to 55% in 2007 (when marriage equality was an issue), to 74% in 2024 (after Obergefell and Pete Buttigieg). The stigma is going away even if it isn’t totally eradicated.

But Republicans? There’s no ignorance about who they are and what the party stands for. People see exactly what Trump says, what the GOP’s platform says, what Project 2025 says, and they’re largely rejecting it because it’s not the future they want. Trump isn’t a guy who happens to be a Republican; he’s a Republican who happens to be an awful human being. And the party has elevated him to the top of their ticket for three straight elections because he represents who they are and where they want to go.

You better believe that’s off-putting to voters—certainly in a blue state like Washington.

Just look back at those favorability numbers. It’s revealing that only 15% of respondents had lukewarm feelings (in the 40-60 range) about Republicans compared to the 34% who felt that way about atheists; it shows that those residents have very strong feelings about Republicans but haven’t necessarily formed their opinions yet about atheists. And about half of residents who have thoughts about Republicans dislike them—far more than Washingtonians who like them.

As one Seattle Times commenter wrote, Republicans would still be the underdogs in Washington if Trump wasn’t on the ballot, but his presence drags all of them down.

The atheist numbers probably won’t change without a specific candidate to pull them up, but it’s hard to imagine the Republican support increasing from where it’s been stuck for several years without Trump loosening his grip on the party.

Remember: Given the incredible number of openly non-religious candidates at the state level, once some of them trickle up into national politics, and people just get used to the idea of an atheist politician, it’ll become even less of a concern.

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