When the new members of the US House of Representatives are sworn in in January 2025, they will include the first openly transgender person in the history of Congress.
The Associated Press projects that Democrat Sarah McBride will win her election for Delaware’s only House seat, where she currently has 58 percent of the vote compared to Republican John Whalen’s 42 percent, with 78 percent of the votes counted.
McBride gained national recognition in 2016 when she became the first openly transgender person to address a major caucus when she delivered a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Nearly a decade later, she is expected to be the victor over Wallen, a retired construction company owner and former state soldier.
After winning the primary in September, McBride told the AP that she was not looking to make history with her run for Congress, but rather to “make historic progress for the people of Delaware.”
Before her run for Congress, the 34-year-old served as a state senator from Delaware, focusing on health care issues for most of her time in office.
She was the first openly transgender person to serve as a state senator when elected in 2020, and the first person to intern at the White House in 2012.
Get daily national news
Get the day’s top political, economic and current affairs news, headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
After news of her expected victory, Kelly Robinson. The president of the Human Rights Campaign — an LGBTQ+ civil rights nonprofit — congratulated McBride.
“As the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress, we couldn’t be more proud of our Congresswoman-elect and former national press secretary for the @HRC @SarahEMcBride,” Robinson wrote. “I am so excited and thrilled that this history-making hero is reshaping the halls of Congress.”
McBride grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and came out in 2011 after years of identifying as transgender.
She said her involvement in politics was due to her desire to create a more inclusive environment.
“Anyone who worries that the heart of this country isn’t big enough to love them should know that they belong… Our democracy is big enough for all of us,” McBride told Reuters regarding the message transgender Americans should take from her expected election. .
Democrats have held the seat since 2010. It was left open last year after Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who also won her own seat, chose to run for the U.S. Senate seat.
—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
