The Red Wave Never Materialized Only Thing Red Is Trump And McCarthy’s Face

Although counting was still underway in the 2022 midterm elections, voters delivered a series of firsts for members of the LGBTQ community nationwide. Among the winners elected to office are first-time members of Congress, transgender trailblazers, and lesbian governors. The wins, in local and national races alike, come on the heels of midterm elections shaped in part by debates over LGBTQ rights. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, hailed the victory of at least 10 pro-equality, openly LGBTQ+ members of the House of Representatives Equality Caucus, a record. Those members are Becca Balint, David Cicilline, Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Robert Garcia, Chris Pappas, Mark Pocan, Eric Sorensen, Mark Takano, and Ritchie Torres. When the new congressional term begins in January, these House members will join openly LGBTQ+ Senators Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Sinema in Congress. Votes are still being counted in CA-41 and OR-5. Here are some of the notable LGBTQ+ victories in the country. (Gregg Shapiro) U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the first gay Native American in Congress and the only Democrat in Kansas’s congressional delegation, has been reelected. In Kansas’s Third Congressional District, she had 55 percent of the vote, while Republican challenger Amanda Adkins had about 43 percent. (Peter Bisuito) Maura Healey made history on Election Day, becoming the first woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts and the first openly lesbian governor in U.S. history. Healey won the gubernatorial race against Republican Geoff Diehl. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, decided not to seek re-election. Healey was the first openly gay attorney general elected in the country in 2014. (Jamaal L. Starks) LGBTQ+ candidates have made history across the country in this year’s midterms. As state legislatures continue to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, pro-equality state representatives have become some of the most pivotal defenders of LGBTQ+ rights. Even in states where legislatures are not repeatedly attacking LGBTQ+ rights, representation is crucial. State legislators make countless decisions that affect the day-to-day lives of the people in their states, and who better to speak for LGBTQ+ people than LGBTQ+ people? (John Hayden) The US midterm elections saw Finke, of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer-Labor Party, win 81% of the vote to Republican Trace Johnson’s 18% for the district 66A seat. She ran on a strong platform for several crucial issues including racial justice, supporting a state-wide equal rights amendment, and explicit protections for trans & gender non-conforming young people, among others. (Nik Nak London) Two-term Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia has become the first out LGBTQ immigrant elected to Congress. He will represent California’s 42nd district. He immigrated to the United States at age 5. He holds an M.A. from the University of Southern California. (Gregg Shapiro) James Roesener has become the first out trans man ever to be elected to a state legislature in the United States. Roesener, a 26-year-old Democrat, won New Hampshire’s 22nd State House District, Ward 8. According to his bio, he lives in Concord, New Hampshire, with his wife and cat. (Peter Bisuito) Democrat Jared Polis, the first out gay man elected governor of any U.S. state, is now the first one reelected. His win was largely expected. Polis, first elected governor in 2018, is a former congressman and entrepreneur. He is married to Marlon Reis; their wedding in 2021 was the first same-sex wedding of a sitting U.S. governor. (Jamaal L. Starks) Democrats now control both chambers of the Michigan state house, the governorship, the attorney general seat, and the secretary of state seat, and the right to abortion will be enshrined in the state Constitution. It’s a big sigh of relief for LGBTQ+ people. Dana Nessel, the out lesbian who won reelection as Michigan’s attorney general, wasted no time reaching out directly to those kids in a tweet Tuesday night. (John Hayden) Gen Z voters turned out in record numbers on Tuesday, and in the Orlando area 10th Congressional District, they voted one of their own into the US Congress. Maxwell Frost became the very first member of Gen Z in Congress. (Nik Nak London) Voters in Texas added to the diversity of their state Legislature on Tuesday, tripling the number of openly gay Black lawmakers holding office and electing the first two Muslim lawmakers to serve in the Capitol. Until May, there were no openly gay Black members of the Legislature. Rep. Jolanda Jones became the first when she won a special election that month. (Gregg Shapiro) Tina Kotek has been declared the winner of the Oregon governor’s race, meaning that two states have elected out lesbian governors. Kotek, a Democrat, had been in a close race with Republican Christine Drazan to succeed term-limited Gov. Kate Brown, also a Dem and the nation’s first out bisexual governor. (Peter Bisuito) Eric Sorenson has won his race to represent Illinois District 17 in the House of Representatives, making him the state’s first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress. The former meteorologist beat out far-right Republican Esther Joy King and celebrated his victory in a statement, saying he is “honored” to have been elected. (Jamaal L. Starks) Democrat Erick Russell has won his election for Connecticut treasurer, making him the first Black, gay statewide officeholder in the U.S. A partner at the law firm Pullman & Comley, Russell ran on a platform that included responsible debt management to protect Connecticut’s bond rating, increasing the funded ratio of state pension funds, and more. (John Hayden) Democrat Becca Balint is the winner of Vermont’s at-large Congressional District race. She is the first woman and the first LGBTQ person elected to Congress from the state. With 72% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Balint had 61.5%, while her Republican opponent, Liam Madden, had 28.8%. (Nik Nak London) Openly LGBTQ+ members play key roles in promoting, advancing, and eventually passing critical legislation, like the Equality Act and the Respect for Marriage Act during the 117th Congress. Their fight to expand civil rights at the federal level and prevent our progress from being rolled back comes at a time when state legislators across the country have introduced more than 350 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Politicians like Sharice Davids, Maura Healey, Leigh Finke, Robert Garcia, Dana Nessel, and others are keeping the fire alive and ensuring America becomes and remains a progressive country that values equality and freedom over anything. #politics