244 Out LGBTQ Candidates Won Elected Office in 2018

November 28, 2018• byMichael Strangeways

Victory Fund Releases Candidate Data on 2018 Rainbow Wave;

244 Out LGBTQ Candidates Won Elected Office in 2018

Data provides look at sexual orientation and gender identity of candidates

Washington, DC – LGBTQ Victory Fund released a demographic and informational breakdown of the 432 openly LGBTQ candidates on the ballot this past Election Day – looking at sexual orientation, gender identity, race/ethnicity, office level, party affiliation, and the equality levels of the states they ran in. Of those, 244 won, including 162 victorious Victory Fund endorsed candidates. Previously, Victory Fund released data on its endorsed candidates, but the data released today looks at all known openly LGBTQ candidates who were on the ballot on November 6.

The breakdown of data is below. A visual representation of the data is available at victoryfund.org/rainbowwave.

Among the key takeaways from the new data:

56.5 percent of known openly LGBTQ candidates won their races on Election Day, and 72.0 percent of Victory Fund endorsed candidates were successful;
136 of the 244 victorious candidates are non-incumbents and 79.3 percent of incumbent candidates won their races;
LGBTQ men ran in higher numbers than LGBTQ women, yet women candidates won at a higher rate (63.4 percent to 56.7 percent);
25.0 percent of LGBTQ candidates who ran were people of color and 56.5 percent won their races; and
86.1 percent of LGBTQ candidates ran as Democrats and 61.0 percent won, whereas 5.3 percent of LGBTQ candidates ran as Republicans and just 17.4 percent won.

“Never in our nation’s history have so many openly LGBTQ people decided to run for office and be the change they demand to see in the world – and we are determined to ensure this energy does not fade,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund. “We were able to ensure many of these leaders crossed the finish line on Election Day, and importantly, LGBTQ incumbents were overwhelmingly reelected by voters in states both red and blue.”

“While the Rainbow Wave of LGBTQ candidates who ran this year was the most diverse ever, there is still a long way to go before equitable representation for our entire community is achieved. It is vital we recruit and train more LGBTQ people of color, women and trans candidates because America needs their voices in the halls of power. LGBTQ political power is growing and we are ready to flex our muscles in local government, state Houses and the U.S. Congress, but as believers in the power of representation, we know LGBTQ candidates and elected officials must reflect our beautifully diverse community.”

Below is a breakdown of data for the 432 openly LGBTQ candidates who were on the ballot on November 6, 2018.*

2018 General Election Candidates	Total on Nov. Ballots	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Victory Fund Endorsed LGBTQ Candidates	225	52.1%	162	60	3	72.0%
Non-Endorsed LGBTQ Candidates	207	47.7%	82	123	2	39.8%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Incumbency	Total on Nov. Ballots	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Incumbents	135	31.3%	107	27	1	79.3%
Non-Incumbent	297	68.8%	136	157	4	45.8%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Office Level	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Federal	28	6.5%	10	19		35.7%
Governor	4	0.9%	2	2		50.0%
Statewide	11	2.5%	6	5		54.5%
State Legislature	197	45.6%	110	84	3	55.8%
Judicial	34	7.9%	26	8		76.5%
Mayor	16	3.7%	10	6		62.5%
Local (not incl. mayor)	142	32.9%	80	60	2	56.3%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Gender Identity	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Men	215	49.8%	122	91	2	56.7%
Women	172	39.8%	109	60	3	63.4%
Trans Men	8	1.9%	3	5		37.5%
Trans Women	19	4.4%	6	13		31.6%
Gender Non-Conforming	2	0.5%	1	1		50.0%
Intersex	1	0.2%	1	0		100.0%
Genderqueer/Non-binary	3	0.7%	0	3		0.0%
Other	3	0.7%	1	2		33.3%
Unknown	9	2.1%	1	8		11.1%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Sexual Orientation	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Gay	207	47.9%	114	91	2	55.1%
Lesbian	139	32.2%	88	48	2	63.3%
Bisexual	28	6.5%	14	14		50.0%
Pansexual	7	1.6%	6	1		85.7%
Queer	18	4.2%	9	8	1	50.0%
Other	3	0.7%	1	2		33.3%
Unknown	30	6.9%	12	18		40.0%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Race/Ethnicity	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
White/Caucasian	288	66.6%	172	115	1	59.7%
Latinx/Hispanic;	48	11.1%	23	22	3	47.9%
African American/Black/ Afro-Caribbean	25	5.8%	17	8		68.0%
Asian/Asian Pacific Islander	17	3.9%	12	5		70.6%
Native American/ Alaska Native	3	0.7%	2	1		66.7%
Arab American/ Middle Eastern	2	0.5%	1	1		50.0%
Multiracial	13	3.0%	6	7		46.2%
Unknown	36	8.3%	11	24	1	30.6%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

Party Affiliation	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
Democrat	372	86.1%	227	140	5	61.0%
Republican	23	5.3%	4	19		17.4%
Independent	8	1.9%	3	5		37.5%
Libertarian	8	1.9%	0	8		0.0%
Green	5	1.2%	1	4		20.0%
Non-Partisan	6	1.4%	3	3		50.0%
Other	4	0.9%	2	2		50.0%
Unknown	6	1.4%	4	2		66.7%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

State Equality Level**	Total Who Ran	% of Total	Wins	Losses	Not Decided	% Won
High-Equality State	211	48.8%	130	77	4	61.6%
Medium-Equality State	25	5.8%	11	14		44.0%
Low-Equality State	172	39.8%	89	81	1	51.7%
Negative-Equality State	21	4.9%	12	9		57.1%
Unknown (Guam)	3	0.7%	2	1		66.7%
All LGBTQ Candidates	432	—	244	183	5	56.5%

*Wins and losses numbers may not add up to the total who ran in certain categories because some races remain undecided.

** As defined by the Movement Advancement Project.

_________________

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

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.