Sarah McBride wins Delaware congressional seat, becomes first transgender rep in US history
State Sen. Sarah McBride will be Delaware's next representative in Congress, becoming the first transgender person elected to federal office in the history of the United States.
McBride, a Democrat and current state legislator, defeated Republican John Whalen in Tuesday's general election.
“Tonight is a testament to Delawareans: That here in our state of neighbors, we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities,” McBride said in her victory address Tuesday night.
She said her victory also sends a policy message, emphasizing her goals in Congress: that housing and health care be available to all, protecting reproductive freedom and guaranteeing paid leave.
“We know the divisions and nastiness that we too often see in our national politics must not be and do not have to be our new normal,” she said.
She will assume the congressional seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who will replace retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Carper.
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Sarah McBride's career
The victory is another step in a meteoric political rise for the 34-year-old Wilmington native. She gained national attention when she became the first openly trans person to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
More recently, she worked as the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group. She calls former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell a political mentor and in media interviews has recounted how Beau Biden once called her a member of their family. President Joe Biden wrote the foreword to her memoir.
McBride was elected to Delaware's Senate in 2020, a first for a trans person in Delaware and making her the highest-ranking trans elected official in the country. On the campaign trail, she pitched to voters her successful advocacy for statewide family and medical leave legislation in the state house.
At a political forum at the University of Delaware earlier last month, she was asked if her identity has influenced her campaign or policies. McBride responded that she will remain dedicated to using her platform to fight for important issues, rather than become “a spokesperson for a movement.”
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“I’m not running to be known for any one aspect of my identity,” McBride said. “I’m running to be Delaware’s member of Congress focused on all of the issues that matter.”
She emphasized that she will continue to prioritize raising the minimum wage, ensuring paid family medical leave and securing further gun safety protections in Congress.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Sarah McBride makes history as first transgender member of US Congress