Monday, June 26, 2023

Sarah McBride announces candidacy to become first openly transgender member of Congress

McBride is a longtime friend of President Joe Biden and his late son Beau

Eric Garcia
June 26,2023

Sarah McBride attends "Out in Office" panel at Tribeca Celebrates Pride Day at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studio on May 4, 2019 in New York City.
(Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

Delaware state Sen Sarah McBride announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Delaware’s sole congressional district, which would make her the first openly transgender member of Congress.

Ms McBride announced her candidacy in a video on Monday morning.

“My commitment is to the people in Delaware who aren’t seen, who don’t shout the loudest or fund political campaigns,” she said. “Everyone deserves a member of Congress who sees them and respects them.”

Ms McBride became the first openly transgender state senator in the United States when she won her election in 2020. Prior to that, Ms McBride worked for the Human Rights Campaign and was also the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party’s convention when she spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

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She first came out as transgender in an op-ed for the student newspaper of American University, where she had served as student body president. Ms McBride also worked for former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, who represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years before he became vice president.

“When I came out, it was support from Beau – and the rest of the Biden family – that made me feel safe in Delaware, like I belonged here,” she tweeted in 2019, to which Mr Biden’s account tweeted: “Thanks Sarah. I'm proud of you and so is Beau.”

In 2018, Ms McBride released her book Tomorrow Will be Different, which detailed her life and the loss of her husband Andy who was also transgender. Mr Biden wrote the foreword for the book.

Ms McBride’s candidacy comes shortly after Rep Lisa Blunt Rochester, the state’s incumbent congresswoman, announced she would run for Delaware’s Senate seat after Sen Tom Carper announced that he would not seek another term in the Senate.

Delaware is a solidly Democratic state, meaning that the winner of the Democratic primary will most certainly win the general election in 2024.

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride is running to become the nation's first transgender member of Congress
Business Insider
Jun 26, 2023

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride is running for a seat in the US House of Representatives.
If she wins, she'll be the nation's first openly transgender member of Congress.
McBride previously interned for the Obama Administration and was the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign.

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride announced her plans to run for Congress on Monday. If she wins in November 2024, she'll become the nation's first openly-transgender member of Congress.

McBride, 32, is running to replace current Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who recently announced a Senate run to replace outgoing Sen. Tom Carper, in the state's at-large congressional district.

Elected as a state senator in 2020, McBride is the highest-ranking transgender legislator in the United States. In 2022, she ran again for her seat, but instead unopposed.

In an interview with Bloomberg Government, an adviser to McBride said her campaign would focus on "kitchen-table issues" like her work passing paid family and medical leave during her short stint in Delaware's statehouse.

McBride, who publicly came out as transgender in 2012 in a student newspaper op-ed as the outgoing student body president of American University, previously interned in the Obama Administration, becoming the first openly transgender person to work in the White House.

McBride also has ties to current President Joe Biden and his family. She worked on Beau Biden's campaigns for attorney general. The president (then vice president) also wrote a forward for her memoir in 2018.

She's also no stranger to the national political scene, having spoken at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

Outside of politics, McBride has also served as the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.

When asked how she'll fare against a barrage of verbal and political attacks as she seeks to become the nation's first openly transgender federal legislator, she told the New York Times that "there will certainly be attacks, but I'm no stranger to those."

"What I've demonstrated over the last few years is that I'm able to move past those attacks and focus on what matters to the people I represent.

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