Delaware lawmaker running for House seat could become the first openly transgender member of Congress
Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride, the country’s highest-ranking transgender elected official, announced her candidacy Monday to become Delaware’s next sole congresswoman.
McBride, if elected, would become the first openly trans person elected to federal office, catapulting the already nationally known politician to an even bigger stage. She also would be the youngest elected official Delaware has sent to Washington since President Joe Biden’s U.S. Senate win in 1972.
“It's clear that diversity in government is necessary for us to not just ensure we have a healthy democracy but also to truly deliver for people,” she said in an interview with Delaware Online/The News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
“I am certainly cognizant of the uniqueness of my candidacy, of the uniqueness that my voice would bring to the halls of Congress,” she said. “But ultimately, I'm not running to be a trans member of Congress. I'm running to be Delaware's member of Congress who's focused on making progress on all of the issues that matter to Delawareans of every background.”
It’s a callback to her state Senate campaign, in which McBride ran on the notion of serving as a “senator who happens to be transgender.” Her announcement comes at a fraught time for trans Americans as a wave of GOP state legislatures have introduced bills to ban gender-affirming care and participation in sports teams for minors. A Delaware Republican senator reintroduced a bill last week that would require students to play only on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex. Newly elected state Sen. Sarah McBride speaks after being sworn into office during a virtual ceremony in front of friends and family at the Claymont Community Center on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.
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A rising star in Delaware politics, 32-year-old McBride has long been viewed as the front-runner to replace U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. The congresswoman announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate last week.
It’s unclear whether Blunt Rochester will endorse anyone running in the House race. McBride is expected to be in a competitive primary. Eugene Young, director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, has declared his interest in running.
In her announcement, McBride touted the endorsements of dozens of Delaware politicians, notably Attorney General Kathy Jennings, who called her a "once-in-a-lifetime talent." McBride has also received the support of labor organizers and national organizations. Sarah McBride is greeted by Delaware Sen. Chris Coons on July 28, 2016, at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Her history in Delaware politics
Her major policy achievement while in Delaware's General Assembly was shepherding the passage of statewide family and medical leave, one of the more significant pieces of legislation Delaware has enacted in recent years.
McBride, who describes her ideology as a progressive who “likes to get things done,” said her role in paid family leave is a “clear demonstration of the kind of leader” she will be in Congress.
“I will be someone who recognizes that you can be both bold and build bridges at the same time,” she said. “Indeed, that's the only way you're able to achieve lasting permanent change.”
The state senator also cited combating disinformation, expanding reproductive rights and embracing green technologies like electric vehicles as other legislative accomplishments. State Sen. Sarah McBride, right, speaks at a press conference on Monday, May 8, 2023, at the Nemours Children's Hospital where legislation was announced that hopes to address lead remediation in homes and schools.
McBride’s campaign video had a clear focus on policy, particularly health care. It briefly alluded to the larger political climate; she said in her campaign video that “too many politicians want to divide us, to tell us that teachers, doctors, even our own neighbors are the enemy." Simultaneously, images of presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., appeared.
Moments later, so did a photo of McBride with Biden, who wrote the foreword to McBride's memoir.
“Blocking out the noise and focusing on what actually matters isn’t easy," she said in her campaign video. "It takes guts and a backbone.”