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John,
While the national Election Night headlines looked a bit grim for pro-equality voters, I’m proud to say that America elected a huge slate of LGBTQ candidates, many of whom made history at the local level. At least 83 of our endorsed LGBTQ candidates won their elections – 62 percent of all candidates we had on the ballot – and five races remain undecided!
In fact, when these leaders are sworn in, 1,000+ LGBTQ elected officials will be serving in the United States for the first time . That’s a huge, historic milestone for our community.
We’ll be sharing a full Election Night analysis with you in The Agenda tomorrow – but here’s how things stand. We did see some tough losses as candidates struggled to overcome the national mood and anti-LGBTQ attacks. But we also saw many rainbow ceilings shattered.
Out candidates of color and non-binary candidates broke new ground in several states. In Pennsylvania, Xander Orenstein made history as the first non-binary person elected to a judicial position in the U.S. Thu Nguyen , a Vietnamese refugee, became the first non-binary person elected in Massachusetts history when they won their seat on the Worcester City Council. Gabriela Santiago-Romero made political history in Detroit as the city’s first out LGBTQ councilwoman.
Danica Roem defeated yet another bigot for her third term in the Virginia House, maintaining her title as the longest serving out trans state legislator in U.S. history. LGBTQ representation was restored to the New Jersey legislature, while New York City elected a historic group of LGBTQ leaders to the city council. You can read the full overview – and all the historic firsts we achieved – here. [[link removed]]
And the 2021 elections are not yet over. Spotlight candidate Liliana Bakhtiari will head to a run-off for the Atlanta City Council (she captured 49.46 percent of the vote in a five-person race, just under the 50 percent threshold she needed to avoid a runoff). When she wins, she’ll be the first out LGBTQ Muslim ever elected in Georgia history. On November 13, Mariah Moore will be running in her New Orleans City Council primary, which was delayed because of the hurricane earlier this year. Mariah would be the first out trans person ever elected in Louisiana and one of just a handful of LGBTQ elected officials in the entire state.
These victories for down-ballot candidates are critical, because local officials are best-positioned to change hearts and minds – as well as policies and legislation. Although the national media spotlight is focused on politics in Washington, DC, it is state and local leaders like the ones who won on Election Night that most impact the daily lives of residents.
While we shattered lavender ceilings in many cities and states, key losses for pro-equality candidates and the continued barrage of anti-LGBTQ bills must be a wakeup call for our community and our allies. The 2022 election cycle begins now and the anti-LGBTQ attacks and fights may be more brutal than ever.
LGBTQ candidates could determine whether pro-equality majorities are maintained in Congress and in state legislatures throughout the country in 2022. Victory Fund is already at work on these races – with more exciting news to come. If you can chip in to our 2022 Launch Fund, I appreciate it. [[link removed]]
Thank you again for standing with us –
Mayor Annise Parker
Pronouns: she|her|hers
President & CEO, LGBTQ Victory Institute
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LGBTQ Victory Fund is the political arm of the LGBTQ community. Since our founding in 1991, we’ve supported and elected LGBTQ candidates like U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Governors Jared Polis and Kate Brown and all nine LGBTQ members of U.S. Congress. We've boosted out candidates running for state and local government, including California Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Florida Senator Shevrin Jones, Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, Colorado state Representative Leslie Herod, Pennsylvania state Representative Brian Sims, Hawaii state Representative Adrian Tam, and so many more ( meet all of our current candidates here [[link removed]] )! We’ve shattered rainbow ceilings in all 50 states and broken election records. You can power our work and the next Rainbow Wave with a donation today [[link removed]] !
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