LGBTQ+ Candidates in the Spotlight

State Senator Sarah McBride is running to be the first out transgender person elected to Congress. Sarah has been an advocate for most of her life, working for Delaware officials including former Governor Jack Markell and the late Attorney General Beau Biden, as a White House intern during the Obama Administration, and as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ equal rights organization. In just her first term, McBride led the fight to pass the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave to workers throughout the First State and marking the largest expansion of Delaware’s social safety net in decades. She has also passed legislation expanding access to health care, requiring mental health and media literacy education in public schools, promoting green technologies, and protecting workers and families.

Learn more about Sarah on her legislative website, her campaign website or her LGBT+ Victory Fund candidate profile.   

Will Rollins (CA-41, Riverside County) is a former Federal prosecutor who focused on counterterrorism and counterintelligence cases in southern California. He is running against 15-term incumbent Republican Ken Calvert, who has been ranked multiple times by non-partisan groups as the "most corrupt member of Congress." Will is also running against Calvert's staunchly anti-LGBT record in a district with re-drawn boundaries that now incorporates Palm Springs. 

Read more about Will from his campaign website, his LGBT+ Victory Fund profile and local press coverage following his primary win.

And NOTE : the Caucus is currently working with the California State Team on an event in June that will feature Mr. Rollins.  Stay Tuned !

Texas State Representative Julie is a 3-term member of the Texas House, representing district 115 (including the cities of Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, Dallas, Irving, and Farmers Branch). Julie will be the first out LGBTQ+ person from a Southern state elected to Congress. She is running to succeed LGBT ally Colin Allred, who won the Democratic nomination to oppose incumbent Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

As a Texas educated attorney (Hook’Em), Julie fought her way into the courtroom during a time when women weren’t being hired to litigate cases. She has defended workers, stood up for the mentally disabled, helped students who were taken advantage of by for-profit universities, and fought for equality for female athletes.

As a legislator, Julie Johnson has earned a reputation for going toe to toe with the crooked and powerful. Last session, she helped kill 76 of 77 anti-LGBTQ bills. She authored the historic Live Well Texas bill, which would have expanded Medicaid in Texas, gaining bipartisan support from 9 Republican Co-Sponsors, and as Vice-Chair of the Women’s Health Caucus fights on the front lines for reproductive rights.

Learn more about Julie on her legislative website, her campaign website or her LGBT+ Victory Fund candidate profile.

Emma was elected to serve as Mayor of the city of Burlington, VT and will take office on April 1, 2024, becoming the first woman and openly LGBT to lead the state's largest city.

In her most recently public service role, Emma serves as a state representative (Chittenden-17) representing several diverse neighborhoods within the city. As mayor-elect, she will be vacating her seat in the legislature.

Running on the Progressive ticket, Emma defeated a Democrat and two independents. Her focus as Mayor will be on addressing the city's budget gap, public safety, climate change, and affordable housing.

Read about Emma on her legislative website, her campaign website and in local media coverage of her victory.