In Texas, the "rainbow wave" outpaces the blue one
ourteen of the 35 gay, bisexual and transgender candidates who ran for office in Texas during the midterms claimed victory Tuesday night — a 40 percent success rate in deep-red Texas — and national and state activists say they’re confident this election cycle carved a path for a future “rainbow wave” in Texas.
The historic number of Texas candidates who ran for offices from governor down to city council positions joined a record-shattering rank of more than 400 LGBTQ individuals on national midterm ballots this year.
“It shows that politics are changing and that more LGBTQ people feel comfortable to step out and run openly,” said Sean Meloy, political director at Victory Fund, a Washington D.C.-based LGBTQ group that fundraised for several Texas races.
LGBTQ candidates had plenty of fuel to inspire their campaigns and galvanize supporters, from Texas’ controversial “bathroom bill” to the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate "transgender" from legal terms.
Julie Johnson and Jessica González, two lesbian candidates from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, won their races for Texas House seats. Johnson defeated Republican incumbent Matt Rinaldi of Irving, while González ran uncontested. They’ll be joined by Erin Zwiener, a bisexual House candidate who won a seat in Central Texas by defeating Republican Ken Strange. The three will more than double the number of openly gay women in the Texas House of Representatives.
In Harris County, five LGBTQ judicial candidates defeated Republican incumbents Tuesday. Jason Cox, Jerry Simoneaux, Shannon Baldwin, James Kovach and Beau Miller will join the three openly gay judges in Houston. Charles Spain, a gay man, also won a seat on the 14th Court of Appeals over Republican incumbent Marc Brown.
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/07/texas-midterm-election-rainbow-wave-lgbtq-candidates/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1541634077&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
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