The 2012 election is over and all in all it was an awesome day to be a Democrat, a pretty great day to be a progressive, and an okay day to be an atheist who supports secular values.
Okay, so Florida is still counting their votes and until they are finished, I won’t know if I am better at predicting elections than the great Nate Silver. I called 332 and Silver called 303. My brother who is a big fan of Silver is about ready to concede, so I think I won. 😉 Either way, Obama wins and the Democrats retain the White House. For the secular community that means that Romney loses and can go back to the planet Kolob.
As for the other races, the Religious Right did not do so well last night. Every politician who supported rape lost and the odious Rabbi Shmuley Boteach lost his attempt to be a congressman. Unfortunately Michelle Bachmann did retain her seat, but barely. Oh, and the religious right backed ballot measure (Amendment 8) in Florida failed.
For progressives, Elizabeth Warren and Allan Grayson won their races. Let’s hope in 2016 we see Warren/Grayson running for President. All four marriage equality ballot measures passed and both pot measures passed too. So there were lots of progressive victories there.
Now for the bad news: The only openly atheist congressman in the House, Pete Stark, lost his re-election campaign. Stark was not only a strong progressive, but also a strong advocate for secular values. He actually worked with atheist groups on legislative issues. So losing him even to another somewhat progressive Democrat will certainly hurt us.
At this time, with 100% of the precincts reporting in, Kyrsten Sinema has 47.5% to her opponent’s 46.2% and they are still not calling the race in Arizona’s 9th. If elected, Sinema would be the first openly bisexual congresswoman but more importantly to the secular community, she would also be our only openly atheist representative in the House. We lost Pete Stark, but we may gain Kyrsten Sinema. The question of how much she will work with atheist organizations will still be a big issue. Stark really did work with our community and really was our representative in congress. I don’t know if Sinema will give us that kind of access and attention. I really do hope so.
EDIT: Kyresten Sinema is not open about her atheism. She still may be an atheist, but has rejected all nontheistic labels. Whether or not she believes in any deities is now in question.
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