Aiming to increase the number of West Coast states with an LGBTQ congressional member, queer Democratic Washington state Senator Emily Randall is eying a strong finish in her primary race Tuesday to buoy her House bid this fall. If elected, she would be the first LGBTQ Latina to serve in Congress.
She would serve alongside gay Latino Congressmember Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach). He and gay Congressmember Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who both endorsed Randall, are expected to easily win their reelection bids in November, ensuring California's congressional delegation continues to have LGBTQ representation.
Several out House candidates this year in the Bay Area and Southern California are hoping to join them on Capitol Hill. Seeing Oregon also have out congressional representation came to an end in May when neither of the two LGBTQ candidates survived their primary races.
Randall is vying to secure one of the two spots for her state's 6th District House seat on the November 5 ballot. Like California, the Evergreen State uses the same open primary system, so the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation will advance out of the August 6 contest.
A former Oakland resident with in-laws who live in the Bay Area, Randall is locked in a tough campaign against fellow Democrat Hilary Franz, a Washington public lands commissioner. Also running is Republican state Senator Drew MacEwen.
They are competing to succeed Congressmember Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) in Washington State's Puget Sound region. He early on endorsed Franz.
Washington state's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Patty Murray, sole endorsed Randall in the race. She also in recent months picked up endorsements from her state's former governors Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire.
With abortion rights under attack across the country by Republicans, and a major issue for voters this year, Randall has made reproductive freedom a major focus of her campaign. A major gifts officer with Planned Parenthood until she won election to her state legislative seat in 2018, Randall secured sole endorsements of her congressional bid from Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Pro-Choice Washington.
It is also the focus on her first campaign ad she released in July.
As Randall wrote in a post on X late last month, "Decisions about our bodies, families & futures are personal. But politicians like Vance/Trump/MAGA Republicans are trying to control our bodies, take away our freedom, and define women's worth by 1 thing only. We reject their Project 2025 agenda — and we won't go back."
Randall was born and raised in Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula, which is part of Kilmer's 6th Congressional District. It also includes the cities of Tacoma and Bremerton, where Randall now owns a home with her partner of 19 years, Alison Leahey, a carpenter in the construction field.
The women first met at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and eventually moved together out west, settling in West Oakland. Leahey's sister and her family live on the Peninsula south of San Francisco.
Back in 2015 and 2016 Randall had managed institutional partnerships for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. She left to work for Planned Parenthood.
In 2017, with Leahey working at the time for Microsoft, the women had relocated to Washington state. Upset by the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president, Randall decided to seek public office herself.
With her win six years ago to the 26th Senate District in her state Legislature, Randall became the first Latina elected to represent it. Claire Wilson, a lesbian who grew up in Seattle, also won a Senate seat that November.
They became the first out women elected to their Legislature's upper chamber and both won second terms in 2022. Wilson endorsed Randall in the House race.
Both times Randall faced a tough contest against her Republican opponent. She entered the congressional race viewed as an underdog but has proved to be a formidable contender.
It remains to be seen if Randall and Franz can both make it out of their primary contest. The congressional district has a roughly 6% Democratic voter registration advantage and President Joe Biden (D) carried it with 57% of the vote in 2020.
But Randall told the Bay Area Reporter last fall "it is very unlikely two Democrats will make it" onto the fall ballot.
The answer will come after the polls close Tuesday night.
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Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail [email protected]
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