The U.S. Senate's first — and soon its only — LGBTQ member appears to have won reelection, but Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) will now find herself as part of the minority party. Republicans won enough seats Tuesday to take majority control over the Senate.
As of the Bay Area Reporter's press deadline Wednesday, Republicans were leading in the race to keep their majority control over the U.S. House of Representatives. But in the House, about 64 seats — many in California — have yet to be decided.
Baldwin, a lesbian, was one of two LGBTQ candidates for the Senate Tuesday. The other was gay Republican hotelier Curtis Bashaw in New Jersey. With 99% of the vote counted in Wisconsin Wednesday morning, Baldwin appears to have won reelection to a third term, with 49.4% of the vote. (Trump won 49.7% of Wisconsin's vote to earn its 10 electoral votes.) Baldwin declared victory Wednesday morning, thanking her supporters in an email for helping her maintain her seat.
"The votes have been counted and I'm incredibly honored the people of Wisconsin have elected me to continue serving our state in the United States Senate," wrote Baldwin.
In the Garden State, with 94% of votes counted, Bashaw had won 44.6%, but his Democratic opponent, Congressmember Andy Kim, won 53.1%. Bashaw described himself as a "pro-choice married gay man."
Baldwin's race to retain the Senate seat from Wisconsin was one of several closely contested battles over Senate seats. In 2012 and in 2018, she won by 10 points. This year, with the endorsements of the state's three largest newspapers, she won with only 0.9%.
Baldwin's opponent, businessman Eric Hovde, spent millions of dollars to air ads against Baldwin, and about a third of those ads underscored that Baldwin has a "girlfriend" who rakes in big money from her investment job. The U.S. Senate currently includes three LGBTQ members: Baldwin, Kyrsten Sinema (Independent-Arizona), and Laphonza Butler (D-California). But the latter two — Sinema and Butler — did not run for reelection.
The Senate's current split of 51 to 49 is now flipped to 52 Republicans and 42 Democrats.
Before the election, Sinema switched from Democrat to independent and announced her retirement; but, in her state of Arizona, it appears a Democrat, Ruben Gallego, will keep the seat.
Democratic incumbents Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio both lost their reelection bids. Republicans ran anti-transgender ads against both candidates. One group, called Citizens for Sanity, put up billboards saying such things as, "Help Charlie become Charlotte. Puberty blockers are a civil right," "Protect Pregnant Men from Climate Discrimination," and "Vote to keep our borders, jails, and bathrooms open. Vote progressive."
Longtime Republican anti-LGBTQ nemesis Senator Ted Cruz of Texas ran ads claiming his Democratic opponent, Congressmember Colin Allred, "voted to allow boys in girls' locker rooms." The fine print on the ad indicated Allred voted for the Equality Act in 2021.
The Equality Act seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the categories of discrimination prohibited by federal law. It has stalled in Congress since the House passed it in 2021 and has not been voted on in the Senate.
At deadline, major media outlets had not yet called four U.S. House races with LGBTQ Democratic candidates. Three of those are in California: In the 41st district in the southern part of the state, challenger Will Rollins trails the Republican incumbent by one percentage point, with 69% of votes counted. In the 39th, incumbent Mark Takano appears to have a 12-point lead over his Republican challenger but only 54% of the vote has been counted. And in District 16, just south of San Francisco, Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino) is trailing the former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo by 20 points, but only 53% of votes have been counted.
In Washington state, newcomer Emily Randall, a former Oakland resident who is queer and a state senator, declared victory Tuesday night, doubling the number of West Coast states that will have LGBTQ representation in Congress, as the B.A.R. first reported online. Set to become the first out Latina in Congress, she has a 14-point lead over the Republican opponent, with 63% of votes counted.
Sarah McBride (D-Delaware) became Congress' first openly transgender candidate. McBride, who previously was an official at the Human Rights Campaign, earned the support and endorsement of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. LPAC, which promotes out women and gender-nonconforming candidates, endorsed McBride, who is currently a state senator.
"In addition to blazing a trail as our country's first ever out transgender congressperson, she is a leader in championing health care, reproductive rights, environmental justice, racial justice and gun safety," said LPAC Executive Director Janelle Perez. "We are lucky to have her in Congress, fighting for all of us."
Openly LGBTQ members of the LGBTQ Congressional Caucus (straight allies can also join) in the 2023-24 session totaled 12: three senators and nine members of the House. If Rollins wins to serve with Baldwin, McBride, and Randall, then the U.S. Senate will have one LGBTQ member and the House 13 out members.
In addition to Baldwin, the caucus will include Democratic LGBTQ incumbents Becca Balint of Vermont, Eric Sorensen of Illinois, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Ritchie Torres of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Mark Takano and Robert Garcia of California; and first termers McBride of Delaware, Julie Johnson of Texas, Randall of Washington, and, possibly Rollins of California.
LGBTQ House candidates headed for defeat include Mondaire Jones in New York, and along with Low in California, progressives Jennifer Tran, Ph.D., David Kim, and Derek Marshall.
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