Democratic governor candidates represent every letter in LGBT acronym
Christine Hallquist (Christine for Vermont)
Candidates from all the letters within the LGBT acronym are represented as nominees for governor elections in 2018.
After transgender woman Christine Hallquist made history and won her primary for Vermont governor on Tuesday, all four letters are represented in Democratic gubernatorial nominees.
The LGBT Democratic candidates who have won their primaries for governor include; Lupe Valdez, a lesbian woman running in Texas, Jared Polis, a gay man running in Colorado, Kate Brown, a bisexual woman who’s the incumbent governor of Oregon and Christine Hallquist, a transgender woman running in Vermont.
Washington Blade reporter political correspondent Chris Johnson also added that a ‘Q’ can be added to the list if Cynthia Nixon wins her insurgent campaign in New York on September 13.
Hallquist won a clear majority in the Democratic primary for the Governorship on Tuesday, besting three other candidates.
The progressive candidate picked up 48.4 percent of the vote, more than double her nearest rival’s 22.1 percent.
By winning the Democratic nomination, she will now face off against Republican incumbent Governor Phil Scott in November’s gubernatorial election.
The primary result has been hailed as a victory by LGBT+ activists. Although Hallquist’s primary victory is a historic first, her gender identity was barely a factor in her campaign, which focused largely on local issues.
Christine Hallquist (Christine for Vermont)
But it’s not only in gubernatorial elections in which LGBT people are being represented.
This year a record number of over 400 LGBT+ candidates are standing or have already competed in elections for public office in the United states, according to the Victory Institute.
Among the candidates is a Democrat and transgender woman, Alexandra Chandler, who is a former military intelligence officer running for Congress in Massachusetts.
The candidate wrote on Twitter that she not only hopes to become the only openly transgender Congressional nominee in 2018, but that she plans to make history for the trans community by being elected.
