LGBTQ Black members elected for the first time
Washington, DC – Nine openly LGBTQ candidates have won their races for the U.S. House and one remains undecided – ensuring a historic number of openly LGBTQ members in the U.S. House next year. Among the winners are Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres, who will become the first two openly LGBTQ Black members of Congress. All seven LGBTQ incumbents in the U.S. House won reelection, and non-incumbent Beth Doglio’s race remains undecided.
The number of LGBTQ members of the U.S. House will increase from seven to at least nine next year – the most in U.S. history. It will also be the most diverse class of LGBTQ members – with four people of color. A number of LGBTQ Congressional candidates – especially Jon Hoadley and Gina Ortiz Jones – faced homophobic and transphobic attacks throughout their campaigns, including millions of dollars in anti-LGBTQ TV ads.
“The next U.S. Congress will have the largest and most diverse group of LGBTQ leaders in history and that can make a real impact on equality. Yet two losses in critical swing districts show that voters were swayed by sustained homophobic and transphobic attacks in the final weeks of the campaign. Both Jon Hoadley and Gina Ortiz Jones were forced to play defense and were ultimately unable to reach enough voters as the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ attacks occurred. It is disturbing that bigoted politicians and operatives will spend millions of dollars on lies and hate to win and it must be addressed. These defeats will be a wakeup call for the LGBTQ community and allies.”
Below are the LGBTQ Congressional candidates who have won their races so far. Non-incumbents are in bold.
| District | Congressmember-Elect | Party | Party of Current Member |
| CA-41 | Mark Takano | Democrat | Democrat |
| KS-3 | Sharice Davids | Democrat | Democrat |
| MN-2 | Angie Craig | Democrat | Democrat |
| NH-1 | Chris Pappas | Democrat | Democrat |
| NY-15 | Ritchie Torres | Democrat | Democrat |
| NY-17 | Mondaire Jones | Democrat | Democrat |
| NY-18 | Sean Patrick Maloney | Democrat | Democrat |
| RI-1 | David Cicilline | Democrat | Democrat |
| WI-1 | Mark Pocan | Democrat | Democrat |
Currently there are seven openly LGBTQ members in the U.S. House and two openly LGBTQ U.S. Senators: Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Sinema. Twenty-six openly LGBTQ candidates won Democratic or Republican primaries for U.S. Senate or U.S. House this year – more than at any other time in U.S. history. Fifteen of the candidates were endorsed by Victory Fund – including all the candidates victorious so far.
For the latest results on all Victory Fund endorsed candidates, visit victoryfund.org/results2020.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to achieve and sustain equality by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government while ensuring they reflect the diversity of those they serve.
