LGBTQ Victory Fund’s May Primaries have come to a close – and almost 50 of our endorsed candidates WON their campaigns (read all the headline-grabbing news here). Our Political team spent the month traveling from state to state and assisting with final Get Out the Vote efforts. Here’s some scenes from the campaign trail…
FIRST UP: NORTH CAROLINA!
Victory Fund Senior Director of Political Programs Marty Rouse & Political Manager Michelle Atwood campaigned with Allison Scott, our candidate for the Asheville City Council. Allison took 4th in her primary and will move to the November general election! When she wins, Allison will be the first out trans person elected in North Carolina. Learn more about Allison’s race here.
Congratulations to our candidate @AllisonScottNC, who won her primary today for city council in Asheville, North Carolina, and will appear on the November ballot. With your support, Allison will make history as the first out transgender elected official in the state! pic.twitter.com/wDjOGFip0Q
— LGBTQ Victory Fund (@VictoryFund) May 18, 2022
Marty and Michelle also hit the campaign trail with LaWana Mayfield, who took third in the six-way Democratic primary for the Charlotte City Council! LaWana and her fellow three Democratic nominees will face four Republicans for four seats in this Democratic city. She is well on her way to becoming the first out LGBTQ city-wide elected official in this increasingly powerful southern city! Learn more about LaWana’s race here.
ONWARD TO PENNSYLVANIA!
Marty, Michelle and Deputy Political Director Cesar Toledo then headed to Pennsylvania for the final days of their primary. We’re proud to report that Spotlight candidate Izzy Smith-Wade-El (center, holding the Izzy sign) handily won his primary and is on track to become Pennsylvania’s first out nonbinary state legislator in November! Check out Izzy’s race here.
Once our team wracked up the victories in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, they traveled straight to Texas, where four Spotlight candidates were in tough runoffs. And three of our candidates WON their races! Jolanda Jones, who made history as the first Black out LGBTQ person elected to the Texas state legislature earlier this month, won her primary with over 53% of the vote.
Block walking with Mayor @AnniseParker‼️ I’m proud 2 be endorsed by the @VictoryFund‼️ #ReElectMe #StateRepHD147 #1stWoman2RepresentHD147 #JolandaJonesYourStateRep #HD147BornAndBred #VoteMay24th #PlzReTweet https://t.co/T5nM0dGPDn
— Jolanda Jones (@JonesJolanda) May 23, 2022
Venton Jones overcame homophobic attacks and mailers to win his race with 68% of the vote. Christian Manuel-Hayes took over 50% of the vote in his race! Both Venton and Christian will shatter a rainbow ceiling in November as the first Black out LGBTQ men elected to the Texas legislature.
Jolanda and Marty on the trail
Cesar, Venton and volunteers hit the polls on Election Day
Marty, Christian and campaign volunteers head out and knock doors!
Venton (middle in the suit jacket) prepares to announce victory on Election Night.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST – GEORIGA!
Cesar also headed to Georgia to help our endorsed candidates prepare for the final days of their primaries. He joined incumbent state Representative Park Cannon and Rashaun Kemp, running for the Georgia House of Representatives on the campaign trail! Rashaun successfully forced a June 21 runoff against a well-funded longtime incumbent Roger Bruce with 19.2% of the vote. If elected, Rashaun will be the first out LGBTQ Black man directly elected to the Georgia legislature. Read up on his campaign here!
Congratulations again to all our victorious candidates and thank you to all the LGBTQ candidates who made the tough decision to run!
If you are an out candidate running at any level of government, we want to hear from you! Learn more about our endorsement process or sign up for an endorsement here.
More information about all of Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates is available at victoryfund.org/ourcandidates. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.
