Wave of LGBTQ Candidates Running For Political Office in 2022

LGBTQ politicians are forging a path to make a difference in our society in the upcoming elections. Check out the list of some LGBTQ people running for office across across the country in 2022: 

Robert Garcia is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. He is currently the Mayor of Long Beach, California and pursuing a the position in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garcia, who is a democrat, immigrated to the United States from Peru when he was 5 years old. If elected, he wants to expand LGBTQ rights and provide pathways to citizenship for undocumented people. 

Jared Polis is the first openly gay elected governor of the U.S. history and Colorado’s first Jewish Governor. Polis, a democrat, is running for reelection. He assumed office in 2019, and his current term ends on January 10, 2023. 

Michele Rayner-Goolsby is a democrat and the first queer, Black woman elected to the Florida House of Representatives District 70, and is campaigning for the democratic nomination in Florida’s 13th Congress District.

Brianna Titone is a democrat, and her current position is at the Colorado House of Representatives, District 27. She is seeking re-election after serving the district 27 for two terms. Titone is the first transgender person to be elected to the Colorado Statehouse. 

Tina Kotek is running for election for governor in Oregon. She was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 44. Kotek, representing the Democratic party, would be the first lesbian elected governor in the United States. 

Malcolm Kenyatta, a democrat, is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing District 181 since 2019. Kenyatta is running for election to the U.S. Senate.

Daniel Hernandez is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 2. A Latino gay man, Hernandez is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. Hernandez was the first person to administer first aid to Congresswoman Gabby Giffords when she was attacked. 

Jasmine Beach-Ferrara holds a position as the Buncombe County Commissioner and is running for election to the U.S. House to represent North Carolinas’ District 11. Beach-Ferrera, a lesbian, was elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020. 

Todd Delmay is running for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 100. Delmay is a gay, married man who adopted a son with his partner when it was still illegal in Florida. His husband adopted their son as a single parent and that same year he adopted his son as a second parent. He and his husband were one of the first gay couples to marry in Florida. 

Jim Obergefell is running for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 89. He is best know as the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized same-gender marriage in 2015.