Election

These LGBTQ Candidates Won Big on Election Day

The "Rainbow Wave" keeps on rolling!
by 11/4/2020

Feeling overwhelmed by the news coming out of Tuesday’s general election? You’re not alone.

Here, have some encouraging numbers: According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, more than 570 openly LGBTQ candidates appeared on the ballot on November 3. As of 12:30pm ET on Wednesday, November 4, 160 of them have already secured historic victories in a continuation of the “Rainbow Wave” sweeping America’s public offices.

“With the presidential race up in the air, it is admittedly tough to focus on the positive,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, in a statement. “Yet last night LGBTQ candidates made historic inroads in state legislatures across the country, winning in states and chambers where we never have before.”

Every vote counts, and poll workers across America are still hard at work crunching the numbers. As we await the final outcome of the 2020 presidential election, let’s celebrate the many LGBTQ candidates who won their races across the country.

This is a live post, and our editors will update it with results as they come in.

  1. Sarah McBride in Delaware

    Rich Fury/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

    As NewNowNext reported last night, the veteran LGBTQ activist and born-and-raised Delawarean is now the country’s first transgender state senator.

  2. Michele Rayner in Florida

    Rayner won her race for a seat on Florida’s House of Representatives, making her the first Black queer woman elected to the Florida state legislature.

  3. Shevrin Jones in Florida

    John Parra/WireImage

    Years after making history as Florida’s first Black gay lawmaker, Jones was elected to the state Senate. He’s now the Sunshine State’s first-ever openly LGBTQ state senator.

  4. Ritchie Torres in New York

    Noam Galai/Getty Images

    The Bronx-based Democrat is officially the first Afro-Latinx LGBTQ member of Congress (NY-15), and one of the first Black LGBTQ people elected to Congress.

  5. Mondaire Jones in New York

    TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

    Alongside Torres, Jones (NY-17), a fellow Democrat, also became one of the first two Black LGBTQ people elected to Congress.

  6. Jabari Brisport in New York

    Brisport, a proud Democratic Socialist who ran to represent his state’s senate District 25, is now the first LGBTQ person of color elected to the New York State Senate.

  7. Kim Jackson in Georgia

    The Victory Fund

    The Victory Fund-endorsed Democrat won her race for a seat on the Georgia State Senate, making her the first openly LGBTQ person elected to that chamber. She also joins a small but growing number of Black LGBTQ women state senators across the country.

  8. Ann Johnson in Texas

    Johnson, a lesbian Democrat, won her race for the Texas State House District 134, flipping another seat in the Texas state legislature from red to blue. How’s that for a twist?

  9. Stephanie Byers in Kansas

    Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for GLSEN

    It was a big night for Byers, a Native American trans woman and GLSEN Award-winning educator who is Kansas’ first transgender state legislator—and the first trans person of color elected to a state legislature in U.S. history.

  10. Sharice Davids in Kansas

    Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

    Two years after successfully challenging a Republican incumbent to represent her district, Rep. Davids, who is gay and Native American, won her bid for reelection.

  11. Brianna Titone in Colorado

    Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images

    Transphobic ads were no match for Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, who won her relection campaign and will continue to represent Colorado’s House District 27. The Democrat and geolochemist previously broke ground when she became Colorado’s first openly trans lawmaker in the 2018 midterm election.

  12. Adrian Tam in Hawaii

    In a momentous win, Tam defeated his white-supremacist opponent—Nicholas Ochs, leader of the Hawaiian Proud Boys—in his race for a seat on the Hawaii State House. The Victory Fund-endorsed Dem is also the Aloha State’s first openly LGBTQ state lawmaker.

  13. David Cicilline in Rhode Island

    The openly gay U.S. Representative will continue to represent his state in the House (RI-1).

  14. Angie Craig in Minnesota

    The out Representative has won her bid for reelection and will continue to represent Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district.

  15. Sean Patrick Maloney in New York

    The gay Dem and incumbent Representative will continue to represent the Empire State (NY-18) in Congress.

  16. Tiara Mack in Rhode Island

    Mack, a Victory Fund Spotlight Candidate, just became the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to Rhode Island’s state legislature.

  17. Roger Montoya in New Mexico

    Mike Coppola/Getty Images for WarnerMedia

    Despite being targeted by homophobes who dredged up his past in gay porn, Montoya prevailed: The Democrat is now the first openly LGBTQ person elected to New Mexico’s state House.

  18. Taylor Small in Vermont

    Small, a Victory Fund-endorsed Democrat who is just 26 years old, is now Vermont’s first openly trans state legislator.

  19. Mauree Turner in Oklahoma

    Turner won their race for a seat on the Oklahoma state House, making them the first nonbinary state legislator in their state—and the entire country.

Sarah McBride Is America’s First Trans State Senator

Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Probably drinking iced coffee or getting tattooed.
@_sammanzella