“My values are rooted in doing what is right because that is how we should care for our fellow humans, not because I’m afraid of what may or may not happen in some sort of afterlife, or to please a higher power.”
Representative Heather Meyer was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in a Special Election in 2021, and was re-elected to her seat in 2022. She serves as the Ranking Member on the Committee on Welfare Reform, and also serves on the Committees on Water and Insurance, respectively, and the 2024 Special Committee on Medical Marijuana. She also served on the 2023 Special Committee on Homelessness.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Meyer grew up in Olathe, Kansas and has lived in Overland Park, Kansas for the last fifteen years with her spouse and two children. She attended Johnson County Community College and received her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Kansas, where she is set to graduate with her Master’s in Social Work in May 2025.
Meyer’s experience being raised by a hardworking single father, who struggled to raise a family on a single working-class income, is what led her to a career in social work and public service.
During her time living in Overland Park, Meyer has been deeply involved in her local community, including through the PTA, Scouting, and volunteering within Overland Park’s local schools.
Sarah Levin: What motivated you to run for office?
Heather Meyer: I first ran unsuccessfully for office in 2014, but was elected to replace our State Representative in a Special Election in 2021, and went on to win re-election in 2022. I’m currently unopposed this cycle, which came as a huge surprise given that I’m an outspoken advocate for issues our Republican supermajority is vocally against. I really became involved in the process in my early 20’s when I volunteered for the Green Party, before I became a Democrat to caucus & volunteer for Barack Obama in 2008. After that election, I continued to use my advocacy and activism to flip our previously red county to blue, and volunteered for many local candidates and campaigns, as well as the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016.
When I was elected to my current position as State Representative, I came in with the purpose of using my personal and professional experiences to help give a voice to those who often feel voiceless or unheard by our political leaders. This is primarily because I was raised by a hardworking single father, and we regularly went without food, healthcare, and basic needs, often struggling to pay the bills.
Growing up in poverty, and then relying on safety net programs as a young adult, I was able to develop a unique understanding of how legislation can affect our most vulnerable, and I was tired of leaders who deliberately ignored and hurt the people in my community.
Beyond that, as a first generation college graduate/adult learner, Kansas’ first openly bisexual legislator, and a social worker, I felt that I could offer an even broader perspective on the legislation we often hear, and be a fighter for those who often don’t have the ability to share their experiences.
State Representative Heather Meyer identifies as an agnostic and secular humanist. This article was originally published as part of the Representation Matters series in The Humanist magazine, a publication of the American Humanist Association. Continue reading the full interview here.
Rep. Heyer was appointed to the Kansas legislature in 2021 and re-elected in 2024 to a two-year term. This is her third term.
You can view all secular elected officials currently serving across the nation on The Secular Vote’s map of secular elected officials here.
