Wyoming Equality Exec Wins State House Seat by 70 Votes

Wyoming Equality director Sara Burlingame has nabbed a seat in her state's legislature, with the Democrat besting her Republican opponent by 70 votes, Wyoming Public Radio reports.

Burlingame is well-known in the Cheyenne area -- the state's capital -- working on both sides of the aisle to advocate for LGBTQ equality. Burlingame, who identifies as queer, said she hopes to bring more civility to politics as representative for House District 44, centered on Cheyenne.

"I think a lot of people don't realize that a civil conversation doesn't mean you don't state strongly what you believe," Burlingame told WPR. "It means you listen to other people and you hold space for each other."

Burlingame's agenda for her state includes bringing in more tech jobs for young workers and passing a statewide antidiscrimination act protecting LGBTQ employees. She said such a law would show Wyoming is "open for business."

She prevailed over Republican Paul Johnson in the race for the 44th District seat, which was vacated by James Byrd, who ran as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state. He lost to Republican Edward Buchanan.

Burlingame has spoken of the need to make Wyoming a more friendly place for LGBTQ people. The state is still haunted by the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie about 20 years ago. "We're nowhere near done" in the fight for equality, she recently told the Associated Press, saying her group's work is the same as it was then.