Washington, DC – All five openly LGBTQ Virginia state legislators won reelection Tuesday night, including Virginia Delegates Danica Roem and Dawn Adams, who both held seats considered critical to Democratic efforts to retake the state House. With all 100 seats in the House of Delegates on the ballot and Republicans holding a slim 51-48 majority, Roem and Adams were heavily targeted by Republicans eager to keep control of the lower chamber. Openly LGBTQ Delegates Mark Levine and Mark Sickles were also victorious in districts considered relatively safe. Openly LGBTQ state Senator Adam Ebbin also won reelection.
While LGBTQ Victory Fund is a non-partisan political organization, the Republican majority in the state legislature has blocked attempts to move forward equality legislation.
“Virginia lags much of the nation in protections for LGBTQ people. But with the help of LGBTQ state legislators winning key races in swing districts, Democrats are poised to take back the House and equality legislation would be soon to follow. While LGBTQ people remain severely underrepresented in governments throughout Virginia, victories for both Danica and Dawn make clear LGBTQ candidates can win in and keep more conservative districts. These big wins will inspire more LGBTQ to run for office and make change in communities throughout the state.”
Before tonight, only 11 openly LGBTQ elected officials were serving in all of Virginia.
Live Election Night Results: Victory Fund is live tracking the election results for its 111 openly LGBTQ endorsed candidates. The latest updates can be found at victoryfund.org/results2019.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to change the face and voice of America’s politics and achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government.
