John,

What does Virginia Senator-Elect Danica Roem (the first out trans person elected to a state senate in the South) have in common with Montana state Representative Zooey Zephyr (the first out trans person to be elected to the state legislature in Montana)?

How about Minneapolis City Councilmember Andrea Jenkins (the first Black out trans woman elected to public office in the United States) and Mississippi state Representative-elect Fabian Nelson (the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to the Mississippi legislature)?

And Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton (first out trans person elected in California for a non-judicial position) and U.S. Congressman Robert Garcia (the first out LGBTQ+ immigrant to serve in the U.S. Congress)?

They are all amazing LGBTQ+ leaders, of course. But they also all attended our four-day intensive Candidate & Campaign Training when they were running for office. And they won.

These results speak for themselves. And right now, we're working to ensure we can accept more LGBTQ+ candidates in our trainings. Make a generous donation to support this work and ensure we hit our Giving Tuesday training deadline!

Our CCTs are proven to help LGBTQ+ candidates run successful campaigns. We cover topics like being LGBTQ+ on the trail, dealing with anti-LGBTQ+ attacks, and how to be authentically themselves in their campaign, all while tackling how to pull a voter list and writing a campaign mailer. We teach candidates and their staff how to find and execute a winning campaign strategy.

Dozens of other LGBTQ+ candidates who won are also recent Victory Institute training alumni. John, these trainings are the first step towards ensuring that LGBTQ+ people are fully represented and have a seat at many different tables. We’ve seen what happens when LGBTQ+ voices aren’t included in the conversation, and the resulting policies and legislation can have dire consequences.

To make sure our rights are preserved, the Victory Institute team is busy working to recruit, train and support LGBTQ+ leaders all around the country. But if we don’t raise $3,250 more by midnight tomorrow, we can’t do our work to build a diverse, pro-equality government. We need your help! Make a tax-deductible donation to ensure Victory Institute hits our Giving Tuesday goal!

More LGBTQ+ people want to run than ever before, and that’s great news. But right now, we need your help keep up with demand and increase our training opportunities. With your tax-deductible end-of-year gift, we can change that in 2024. Contribute today to help us train more LGBTQ+ people to run for office (and win!).

Thank you for your support,

Itay Balely
Pronouns: he|him|his
Director of Training, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute