# Open atheist for Senator

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 9, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882 "2008-11-09T05:35:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f14d63/32.png) [@Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesus_Harold_Christ)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/1 "2008-11-09T05:35:36Z")

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Could an open atheist be elected Senator? Which state is most likely/least likely to elect an open atheist?

Most: Minnesota  
Least: Utah

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**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/2 "2008-11-09T06:08:56Z")

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Congressman Pete Stark answered that he’s an atheist what, less than a year ago? So I assume this most recent election was the first time a US Representative was elected who was openly an atheist (at the time of the election)?

For the most likely to elect an openly atheist Senator, what about Oregon?

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**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/3 "2008-11-09T06:20:51Z")

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[Church or synagogue attendance by state](http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060502/news_lz1n2thelist.html). (2006, couldn’t find one more recent.)

Not necessarily a directly correlation to tolerance.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/4 "2008-11-10T05:45:58Z")

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> [@Knorf](#):
>
> [Church or synagogue attendance by state](http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060502/news_lz1n2thelist.html). (2006, couldn’t find one more recent.)
> 
> Not necessarily a directly correlation to tolerance.

But, it appears on first glance, a very rough inverse correlation to prosperity and social health.

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**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/5 "2008-11-10T05:48:35Z")

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I dunno, it’d probably be Texas just to confuse us. Like the gay mayor of Dallas.

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**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/6 "2008-11-10T06:08:53Z")

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> [@mswas](#):
>
> I dunno, it’d probably be Texas just to confuse us. Like the gay mayor of Dallas.

I voted for an openly gay mayor, but [Tom Leppert](http://www.dallascityhall.com/government/mayor/mayor.html) won. His personal information is encapsulated on the very last lines of his biography. Do you know who you were thinking of?

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**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/7 "2008-11-10T16:05:26Z")

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> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> But, it appears on first glance, a very rough inverse correlation to prosperity and social health.

Indeed.

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-atheist-for-senator/471882/8 "2008-11-10T16:46:27Z")

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> [@Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](#):
>
> Could an open atheist be elected Senator? Which state is most likely/least likely to elect an open atheist?
> 
> Most: Minnesota  
> Least: Utah

Most: California  
Least: All the others