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Home *Resist. Protest. Obstruct. Inform., *The Illegitimate Regime of Donald Trump, #Press Release Of The Day, 2018 Elections, Elections, Equality, Gay News, National News, News, Queer NewsHistory Making: LGBTQ Candidates Run for Office in Every State in 2018

History Making: LGBTQ Candidates Run for Office in Every State in 2018

October 19, 2018• byMichael Strangeways

Via Victory Fund:

GayRainbowMapUS

 

For the First Time in U.S. History,

LGBTQ Candidates Ran for Office in Every State This Cycle

Mississippi and South Dakota had fewest LGBTQ candidates run in 2018

Washington, DC – For the first time in U.S. history, openly LGBTQ candidates ran for elected office in all 50 states and the District of Columbia this election cycle, powering a Rainbow Wave of LGBTQ candidates running at every level of government. At least 618 LGBTQ candidates ran for office and at least 399 will appear on ballots in November. In three states, however –Delaware, Mississippi and New Mexico – there were no out LGBTQ candidates that advanced to the general election and none will appear on the November ballot. Findings and a breakdown by state is below.

Among the findings:

  • Mississippi and South Dakota had the lowest number of out candidates running in 2018, with just one each. Both currently have zero openly LGBTQ elected officials serving anywhere in the state.
  • California, Texas and Florida had the largest number of LGBTQ candidates run in 2018 – with 81, 61 and 28 respectively. While California and Florida are among the states with the highest number of openly LGBTQ elected officials currently serving, Texas is an outlier. Despite having relatively few openly LGBTQ elected officials serving given the state’s population, it saw a surge in openly LGBTQ candidates running this year.
  • Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Texas, West Virginia and Guam can at least double the number of out LGBTQ elected officials with big wins in November. Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and West Virginia are all low-equality states for LGBTQ people, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

“LGBTQ candidates are running for office in unprecedented numbers and in every state in the nation – and it is already inspiring more LGBTQ people to run in the near future,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund. “This rainbow wave of candidates is certainly concentrated in blue states and districts, but LGBTQ leaders in conservative parts of the nation are standing up and determined to become public servants while remaining true to who they are. The struggles and experiences of LGBTQ candidates provide a unique perspective that makes them authentic, values-driven leaders, and it is increasingly resonating with voters.”

The complete list of openly LGBTQ candidate numbers by state, in addition to the current number of serving LGBTQ elected officials in each state, is below. It is also available in an Excel document on the Victory Fund website at victoryfund.org/rainbowwavestates.

State Number of LGBTQ Candidates Who Ran in 2018 Number of LGBTQ Candidates on Nov 2018 Ballot Number of Current LGBTQ Elected Officials
Alabama 4 2 1
Alaska 5 1 4
Arizona 18 12 10
Arkansas 6 4 2
California 81 57 105
Colorado 15 12 13
Connecticut 13 11 5
Delaware 3 0 3
District of Columbia 7 5 6
Florida 28 17 28
Georgia 13 9 12
Guam 3 3 1
Hawaii 5 1 0
Idaho 2 1 2
Illinois 22 14 26
Indiana 4 1 4
Iowa 7 3 7
Kansas 5 3 6
Kentucky 7 4 7
Louisiana 3 3 0
Maine 6 4 11
Maryland 25 10 16
Massachusetts 20 8 17
Michigan 19 11 17
Minnesota 8 6 11
Mississippi 1 0 0
Missouri 9 7 5
Montana 7 6 6
Nebraska 4 4 4
Nevada 8 3 4
New Hampshire 10 9 8
New Jersey 20 16 16
New Mexico 2 0 8
New York 26 14 27
North Carolina 21 17 13
North Dakota 3 3 3
Ohio 16 10 19
Oklahoma 6 2 2
Oregon 13 12 12
Pennsylvania 15 10 30
Puerto Rico 0 0 1
Rhode Island 10 7 5
South Carolina 3 1 1
South Dakota 1 1 0
Tennessee 5 2 5
Texas 61 37 16
Utah 3 2 8
Vermont 7 6 4
Virgin Islands 0 0 1
Virginia 5 2 11
Washington 13 13 33
West Virginia 3 2 1
Wisconsin 15 9 18
Wyoming 2 2 2
Total 618 399 577

 

Also available are previous reports on the number of openly LGBTQ candidates running for Congress and governor, and the number of openly LGBTQ candidates who ran by position level.
A note on the candidate numbers above: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia do not hold state legislative elections this year, affecting the number of candidates running in their states this cycle.

Victory Fund endorsed 272 openly LGBTQ candidates in 2018 – the most in its 27-year history – and 226 of those endorsees will be on the ballot in November. Seventeen openly LGBTQ candidates have already been elected this year. View all Victory Fund endorsed candidates atvictoryfund.org/ourcandidates.

 

**DISCLAIMER: The information and data provided above is accurate to the best of Victory Fund’s knowledge. It is possible other candidates or elected officials are not accounted for because of a lack of media reports or other visibility.**

_________________

LGBTQ Victory Fund

LGBTQ Victory Fund works to change the face and voice of America’s politics and achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government.

victoryfund.org

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About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.

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