2018 Midterms and Nine LGBTQ Congressional Candidates You Should Know👀

By Elly Belle

Representation by people from the LGBTQ community is still sparse within the U.S. government, especially for some of the most powerful positions.

Congress, in particular, has remained largely white, male, cisgender, and straight for the majority of the country’s history. And in the Senate, there’s been a slow change, with politicians like Illinois’s Carol Moseley Braun, who became the first woman of color elected to the Senate, in 1992, and Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, who became the first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate, in 2012.

Fortunately, the range of candidates running for and being elected to government positions has become more diverse, with a historic number of LGBTQ candidates who've won primaries this year. Now, ahead of the November 6 midterms, there are more LGBTQ candidates running than ever before. Below, we introduce some of these candidates and explain what you should know about them.

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Katie Hill, 31 — 25th Congressional District, California

  Katie Hill for Congress

Katie Hill is a bisexual woman who is vying to unseat anti-LGBTQ Rep. Steve Knight in California. Hill’s platform prioritizes advancing LGBTQ equality, finding solutions to homelessness, and advancing the expansion of Medicaid and other health care programs in California. She is a Democrat and also comes from a background of service, having run a homeless services agency. 

She’s also talked at length about her experiences with being pregnant at 18 years old and the importance of a woman’s right to choose. Hill is running in a traditionally Republican district, where Republican representatives have been the majority for years. 

[[Sharice Davids, 38 — 3rd Congressional District, Kansas]] If elected to represent the 3rd district in Kansas, Democrat Sharice Davids could become one of two first Native American women in Congress (the other being Deb Haaland of New Mexico). With a victory following November 6, Davids would also be making history as Kansas's first openly LGBTQ representative.

Davids participated in the White House Fellowship program in 2016 during Obama’s presidency. She’s also a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter — so she’s no stranger to tough fights.

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Lauren Baer, 37 — 18th Congressional District, Florida

Barrier-breaking Lauren Baer, who’s running in Florida’s 18th district as a Democrat, could become Florida’s first-ever openly LGBTQ congressperson if elected. Baer is running to make Florida better for the most marginalized communities and has focused on championing quality, affordable health care, improving public schools, and combating environmental issues.

She also served as an official in the Obama administration from 2011 to 2017, acting as a senior adviser to secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, as well as to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

 The second time could be the charm for Angie Craig, who first ran against Republican Representative Jason Lewis in 2016 and lost by only two points. If elected, Craig would become Minnesota's first openly LGBTQ representative. She is running as a Democrat.

Craig has spent more than 20 years working in the health care field. Now, she says she wants to use her experience to fix health care systems that currently don’t prioritize or help the most marginalized people, and to provide more opportunities for health care expansion so that all families in Minnesota have access to services. 

Jamie McLeod-Skinner, 51 — 2nd Congressional District, Oregon

Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a Democrat, was the first openly lesbian person elected to the Santa Clara City Council in California, in 2004. If elected in Oregon on November 6, she will become the state’s first openly LGBTQ congressperson. She believes it’s way past time to provide health care for all people and is striving to rebuild the middle class, as well as to focus on the needs of rural communities.

Ultimately, she’s hoping to unseat a lifelong politician, Republican Representative Greg Walden, who has been re-elected every time since first winning Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, in 1998.

 Chris Pappas, 38 — 1st Congressional District, New Hampshire

Chris Pappas, the Democratic candidate from New Hampshire, is openly gay and already heavily involved in local politics, having represented his district on the New Hampshire Executive Council for the past five years. Pappas supports universal health care, reproductive health, and family planning, and has championed strong public school systems as the foundation of society. Pappas’s district is traditionally a swing district, so his win would be a big deal both for New Hampshire and for the country as a whole. The district, which has toggled between Democratic and Republican representatives every election for the past decade, could have its politics transformed by whichever candidate wins.

 Kyrsten Sinema, 42 — 9th Congressional District, Arizona

A Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema is the current congressional representative in Arizona, serving for the past five years. She’s also the first openly bisexual Senate nominee ever. Sinema has prioritized expanding access to quality, affordable health care, creating educational opportunities, helping veterans receive benefits and creating good-paying jobs for people in Arizona.

Now, according to her platform, she has plans to fix a “dysfunctional Washington,” as well as to continue to make good on the promises and issues she’s prioritized since taking office.

 

Incumbent candidate Tammy Baldwin was the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, in 2012 (as well as the state’s first woman to be elected to serve in the Senate). Before that, she served in the House of Representatives for 14 years. During her career, Baldwin has important health care reform initiatives, like the rule that allows young people to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26. She has also pushed for action to be taken to address the opioid epidemic.

During this race, Baldwin has upheld these same values in her current platform, and is also prioritizing issues like fighting for debt-free higher-education opportunities for students.

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Mark Pocan, 54 — 2nd Congressional District, Wisconsin

Also an incumbent in Wisconsin, Mark Pocan is currently one of only seven LGBTQ members in Congress. Pocan serves as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, in addition to the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

Among other issues, Pocan is pushing to increase social-safety-net programs that help families, including unemployment compensation, aid to increase access to higher-education assistance, health care reform, and bolstering Social Security for seniors. Pocan has most recently introduced legislation that would terminate the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and instead “implement a humane immigration enforcement system that upholds the dignity of all individuals,” according to a press release from his office.

 

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by Elly Belle on teenvogue.