John,

I am so excited to share Victory Fund's latest report, Out on the Trail, with you! This exclusive report details the number and demographics of LGBTQ+ candidates who ran or are running for office during the 2023 election cycle. You can read about the report in USA Today or you can read the full report here.

Over the last three years, a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures - most of them targeting gender-affirming healthcare or trans kids. But LGBTQ+ people weren't cowed: they bravely stepped up to run, shattering previous records. LGBTQ+ candidates running in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Many are running for local offices, including school board seats, ensuring we'll have essential representation at every level of government. When bigots try to roll back our rights, they'll be there to fight back.

Here's some of the key findings from the report:

• The number of genderqueer and nonbinary candidates has grown dramatically – from five in 2019 to 37 in 2023;
• Transgender women candidates increased by 15.4 percent between 2021 and 2023;
• 32.9 percent of LGBTQ+ candidates who ran or are running in 2023 are people of color;
• Latinx LGBTQ+ candidates grew by 40 percent from 2021 (from 40 to 56), while the number of Black LGBTQ+ candidates and Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ candidates decreased slightly;
• Bisexual candidates more than tripled from 2019 to 2023 (from 24 to 74) and increased by 76.2 percent compared to 2021;
• Lesbian candidates increased by 18.3 percent from the 2021 to 2023 election cycle (from 60 to 71), after seeing an overall decline between 2019 and 2021;
• The number of out LGBTQ+ state legislative candidates more than doubled between 2021 and 2023 (from 19 to 40);
• LGBTQ+ candidates ran or are running in 41 states and the District of Columbia.

It's inspiring to know that so many LGBTQ+ people have stepped up to run. They do it knowing that they could face all manner of attacks, that their gender, sexual orientation or race will be put under a microscope and cross-examined for imagined flaws. And despite that, they choose to run and make our political process more equal. That's something we should all celebrate. And if you can power our work to elect all these amazing candidates, please chip in here!

Thank you for reading,

Mayor Annise Parker
Pronouns: she|her|hers
President & CEO, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund