“An unprecedented Rainbow Wave of openly LGBTQ candidates is running for office this year – shattering previous records and breaking down long-held political barriers for our community,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund. “While the numbers themselves are impressive, we are also running for higher-level offices in larger numbers and in places across the country unthinkable just a few years ago. Whether electing the first openly trans governor in the United States or tripling the number of LGBTQ women in the U.S. Congress, we have an opportunity to turn this Rainbow Wave of LGBTQ candidates into a Rainbow Wave of LGBTQ elected officials on Election Day.”
Of the 606 openly LGBTQ candidates who ran in 2018:
• 91 ran for U.S. Senate or U.S. Congress;
• 10 ran for governor and 299 ran for statewide offices or state legislative seats; and
• 206 ran for city councils, school boards, judicial positions, and other local government offices.
Of the 390 openly LGBTQ candidates who will appear on ballots in November:
• 30 are running for U.S. Senate or U.S. Congress;
• 4 are running for governor and 213 are running for statewide offices or state legislative seats; and
• 143 are running for city councils, school boards, judicial positions, and other local government offices.
Victory Fund endorsed 272 openly LGBTQ candidates in 2018 – the most in its 27-year history – and 229 of those endorsees will be on the ballot in November. Sixteen openly LGBTQ candidates have already been elected this year.
View all Victory Fund endorsed candidates at victoryfund.org/ourcandidates.
