The November ballots in Virginia will include eight LGBTQ+ candidates for seats in the General Assembly.
“Representation is power. Tonight’s wins are a clear sign that despite increased homophobia and transphobia, the LGBTQ+ community refuses to back down,” said Annise Parker, president & CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, commenting after Tuesday’s party primaries set the ballots for both parties for November.
The slate includes Danica Roem, a current House of Delegates member who is the nominee in the 30th Senate District, and would be the first out trans state senator in the South, and Josh Cole and J.R. Henson, who would be the first out LGBTQ+ Black men ever elected to the Virginia General Assembly.
There are currently four out LGBTQ+ members – Roem, Dawn Adams, Kelly Convirs-Fowler and Mark Sickles – in the House of Delegates, and one out LGBTQ+ member, Adam Ebbin, in the State Senate.
Adams had mounted a bid for the Senate seat that had been held by the new Fourth District congresswoman, Jennifer McClellan, but Adams fell short in the February special primary election, and then decided in the spring against running again in the June primaries.
Convirs-Fowler won a tight four-way race for the Democratic nomination in the 96th House District on Tuesday.
Sickles didn’t have an opponent for the Democratic nomination in the 17th House District.
Two other LGBTQ+ candidates won nomination on Tuesday – Democrat Laura Jane Cohen in the 15th District, and Adele McClure in the 2nd District.
“Voters are excited about these candidates’ credentials, priorities and positive visions for the future,” Parker said. “Tonight’s results are also a rallying cry to the LGBTQ+ community and our allies to double down in our work to ensure these leaders are successful in November. Our rights depend on it.”
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Chris Graham
