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Rainbow Super Wave: Victory Fund Endorses Dozens More LGBTQ Candidates for 2019 and 2020

2020 looks to be another historic year for LGBTQ candidates.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund today endorsed 39 LGBTQ candidates in 2019 and 2020 races, including three incumbent members of Congress: Angie Craig, from Minnesota (below), Sharice Davids of Kansas, and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire.

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 29: Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., participates in the news conference with other freshmen to announce the Shutdown to End All Shutdowns (SEAS) Act, in the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Among those endorsements are two candidates in runoff elections taking place in Georgia and Idaho this year, both on December 3: Kurtis Purtee, running for Savannah City Council, and Evangeline Beechler, running for Caldwell City Council.

The 37 candidates Victory Fund endorsed in races taking place next year brings the total LGBTQ candidates endorsed by the group so far for 2020 to 66. That includes its first endorsement of a presidential candidate: Pete Buttigieg, the first gay candidate to run for president as a member of the Democratic Party.

State Representative Shevrin Jones (below) is among the six candidates the group endorsed today for the Florida state legislature. If Jones wins, he would become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Florida state Senate.

John Parra/WireImage

MIAMI, FL - MARCH 23: Shevrin Jones attends South Florida Youth Summit #I AM Change Youth Symposium And college fair at Miami Carol City Senior High School on March 23, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/WireImage)

Victory Fund also endorsed two candidates for the Texas House of Representatives: Ann Johnson and Eric Holguin, both non-incumbents. Texas state House candidate Eliz Markowitz was previously endorsed and is headed to a runoff election in January. Additionally, Shawn Terry has also received the organization's endorsement, and if all four are ultimately successful, LGBTQ representation in the Texas state House will go from five to nine members.

Those election could prove especially important, as the state legislature has introduced a number of anti-LGBTQ bills over the past several years.

According to the nonprofit, there will be more openly LGBTQ candidates running for office in 2020 than in any previous election year, including the more than 700 candidates who made up the so-called “Rainbow Wave” of 2018.

"An unprecedented number of LGBTQ people will run for office in 2020—potentially making the Rainbow Wave of 2018 look more like a ripple,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, in a statement.

“In 2020, we will endorse more candidates than at any time in our 28-year history, with opportunities to dramatically increase LGBTQ representation in state legislatures and elect a historic number of LGBTQ people to Congress. We have out LGBTQ candidates running in parts of the country where none have run before, transforming perceptions of LGBTQ people in these communities. This coming year we will build LGBTQ political power like never before—and these 39 newly endorsed candidates are the backbone are the ones who will make it happen."

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