top of page

Transgender Candidates

 

 

In 2015, I conducted a project (coauthored with Andrew Reynolds) to examine the success rates of transgender and gender-diverse candidates for office around the world. We developed an original dataset of nearly 130 unique candidates (as of November 2015) over nearly 40 years representing at least 30 countries. I presented this research to the British Parliament, London School of Economics, and the 2015 International LGBT Leaders Conference.

 

I continue to track transgender candidates in the United States,

often with the help of people around the country who take the time to contact me. Thank you!

Danica Roem's victory
Screen Shot 2020-11-11 at 3.10.35 PM
Andrea Jenkins' victory
Esquire coverage
2015 Report cover
Vegas panel
Vegas_edited
Parliament panelists
Parliament 3
Notes for Journalists Covering Transgender Issues:
 
Please see the Trans Journalists Association's
style guide for covering transgender people and issues.
Allison Scott 2022.jpg
List of Transgender Candidates in the U.S.
2022

2022 Candidacies: At least 50

2021: 22 | 2020: 50 | 2019: 23 | 2018: 54 | 2017: 25

2022 Victories: At least 20 (1 race still undecided)

2021: 10 | 2020: 16| 2019: 15 | 2018: 10 | 2017: 10

Last updated Thursday, Jan 5, 2023

4:30 pm Central

2022

NP=non-partisan

green = victory

*=won primary

U.S. House (0/2)

Lieutenant Governor (0/1)

Other Statewide Offices (0/1)

State Senate (1/4)

State House (7/18)

County Commission/Board (2/4)

City Council (3/8, with one race still undecided)

School Board (3/5)

Other Local Offices (5/7)

---

2022 Notes

  • Stephanie Byers (D), currently a state representative in Kansas, is not running for reelection, due to a family move out of state. Read more here.

  • Janelle Crossley (D) announced she would run for Pennsylvania House (District 199) in 2022, but was not listed on the May primary ballot. 

  • Lucy Lauser (D) announced in 2021 she would run for the U.S. House in the state of Washington (District 3), but withdrew in November 2021.

  • Rachael Rose Luckey announced she would run for City Council in Los Angeles, CA (District 13), but she did not appear on the June primary or November general ballots. 

  • Kendall Martinez-Wright announced she would run for the Missouri House (District 5) in 2022, but in Sept 2021 withdrew.

  • Lisa Middleton (D) announced she would run for the California Senate (District 28) in 2022, but in Dec 2021 the state's redistricting commission changed the district's election cycle to 2024. Read more here.

  • Allison Chris Myers was appointed, not elected, to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission in Dec 2022. 

  • Monika Nemeth (D) announced she would run for Washington D.C. Council (Ward 3), but in March 2022 withdrew.

  • Brooklyn Owen (D) announced she would run for the Florida Senate (District 6) but has not filed appropriate paperwork and does not appear to be on the ballot for the August primary.

  • Paula Overby (LMN) sadly died in October, prior to the November election in Minnesota for the 2nd Congressional district. 

  • Melissa Sue Robinson (D) announced she would run for the Governor of Idaho, but withdrew before the primary.

  • Brianna Westbrook (D) briefly ran for Arizona House in District 24, but then changed to run for District 5 after redistricting.

  • Osun Zotique (D), who also identifies as nonbinary, briefly ran for the U.S. House in New York (District 19), but withdrew prior to the primary. Zotique also briefly ran as a write-in candidate in the Hudson Board of Education election in May 2022, and lost.

2023 Notes

  • Danica Roem (D), a current Virginia state legislator, announced she will run for the Virginia State Senate (District 30) in 2023.

---

Click here for a list of candidates who ran in 2021.

Click here for a list of candidates who ran in 2020.

Click here for a list of candidates who ran in 2019.

Click here for a list of candidates who ran in 2018.

Click here for a list of candidates who ran in 2017.

This is the policy report format of this research project, published in October 2015 by the LGBTQ Representation and Rights Research Initiative. The data regarding candidates (at the time of publication) is included in the report's appendix. If you know of someone we missed, please email me!

Related Press Coverage

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

bottom of page