Meet the Potential First Out State Reps in Alaska & South Dakota

Meet the Out State Rep Candidates in Alaska and South Dakota

Four states have no out LGBTQ+ members in their legislatures -- but with November's election, that number could be cut in half.

The states with zero representation are Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Dakota. But there are four out candidates running for Alaska's legislature and one running in South Dakota. Jennie Armstrong, Ashley Carrick, Lyn Franks, and Andrew Gray are seeking seats in the Alaska House of Representatives, while Kameron Nelson is running for South Dakota House. All are Democrats.

"With trigger bans on marriage equality and abortion in place in the majority of U.S. states, the stakes of this election could not be more clear," says Albert Fujili, spokesperson for the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which has endorsed Armstong, Gray, and Nelson. "State legislatures will determine in the near future what rights we do and do not have. The LGBTQ community in Alaska and South Dakota have never had equitable representation -- and they have the battle scars to show for it. Enough is enough."

Pictured, from left: Andrew Gray, Jennie Armstrong, and Kameron Nelson. Photos courtesy of the candidates

Alaska: Jennie Armstrong

Alaska has a history of conservatism, but recent developments indicate the state's politics are becoming more complicated. In a special congressional election in August to replace the late U.S. Rep. Don Young, Democrat Mary Peltola beat Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, onetime Republican vice-presidential candidate, and icon of the far right.

Since the special election was only to fill out the remainder of Young's term, Peltola and Palin are facing off again in November, along with two other candidates due to the state's new voting system -- another complication. But the special-election victory for Peltola, the first Alaska Native in Congress, has given hope to Democrats in races for other offices. Peltola even has the endorsement of Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of the few Republicans willing to break with the party.

Under Alaska's new voting system, put in place this year, candidates from all parties run against each other in the primary. Each voter chooses one candidate, but the four top vote recipients advance in the general election. In the general election, a ranked-choice system goes into effect. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the lowest-ranking candidate is eliminated and the votes redistributed; the process goes on until someone has a majority.

Alaska has never had an out state legislator, but Johnny Ellis, a closeted gay man, was in the legislature for 29 years -- 1987 to 1992 in the House and 1993 to 2016 in the Senate. Ellis, a Democrat, came out as gay after retiring. He died in February at age 61.

"Although he wasn't out while serving, he certainly laid the groundwork for the first openly gay representative," Gray says, adding, "I stand on his shoulders." Other out Alaska candidates have praised him as well. Following are the four seeking to become that first out legislator.

Jennie Armstrong, who is pansexual, grew up in a locale far removed from Alaska -- New Orleans. But she was charmed by the state when her husband, Ben, invited her on a road trip there, and she never left. She has been an Alaskan since 2019.

She is running in House District 16, covering part of Anchorage. Unlike some of the Alaska candidates, she has only one opponent in the general election, Republican Liz Vazquez. There is no incumbent in the race.

After having worked in corporate America, Armstrong founded two companies, Delve and Wild Awake Creative, which work with nonprofit organizations and small businesses on projects involving progressive social change. She was asked to run for office after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this June. "I just knew this was a way I could step up and serve my community," she says. In addition to lacking LGBTQ+ representation, she notes, the Alaska legislature has very few members with young families. Armstrong has children aged 2 and 6.

One of her major priorities is improving access to child care; the lack of this has been identified as a major drag on Alaska's economy. Many parents of young children want to work but can't because they don't have child care. Armstrong would like to see this subsidized, and she's also calling for universal pre-kindergarten.

"I feel very passionately about building an inclusive economy," she says.

Other priorities include education, infrastructure, voting rights, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ equality (the state lacks an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination law). Alaska's Supreme Court has ruled that the right to abortion is guaranteed by the state's constitution, but conservatives have often pushed for a constitutional convention for the purpose of revoking that guarantee. Every 10 years, the Alaska electorate votes on whether to call a constitutional convention, and this is one of those years.

Armstrong also stresses the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in creating role models for young people, pointing out that she didn't see this representation in politics while growing up. "What would I have imagined for myself if I'd seen that?" she says.

Photo courtesy Jennie Armstrong

Alaska: Ashley Carrick

Ashley Carrick, who is bisexual, is running in House District 35, seeking to succeed Rep. Adam Wool, for whom she's been chief of staff for five years; Wool is not seeking reelection. Carrick is a fourth-generation Alaskan and has lived in Fairbanks, where her district is located, for a decade.

Carrick says she's concerned about the state's economic future. It has long had a "boom or bust" economy, largely dependent on oil revenues, and those are declining, she says. Alaska needs to plan for the challenges that will arise in the next year or two, after federal infrastructure assistance funds have been spent, she notes.

Her district is home to the University of Alaska's flagship campus, and investment in education, which she says has been insufficient, is another priority of hers. So are public health and safety, promoting LGBTQ+ equality, and protecting reproductive rights. "We have the serious potential to really go backwards," she says.

Carrick is up against three competitors in the general election: Republicans Kevin McKinley and Ruben McNeill, and Constitution Party member Kieran Brown.

Photo via Facebook

Alaska: Lyn Franks

Lyn Franks, a lesbian, is making her third run for office. A resident of the northern part of Anchorage, she ran for the Alaska House in 2018 and lost the Democratic primary. In 2020, she won the primary but lost the general election by 95 votes to Republican David Nelson. This year, with the all-party primary system and ranked-choice voting in place, she's challenging Nelson again, in what was District 15 but is now District 18. There is one other candidate in the race, Democrat Cliff Groh.

The 2017 Women's March inspired Franks to run for office. "Something inside me changed," she says. She became Democratic Party chair in her district, and then her 2018 run made her the first out candidate for the Alaska legislature. Ellis, although closeted, had been her mentor, she says. "In honor of Johnny, I continue to run and do what I'm doing," she notes.

A Florida native, she has lived in Alaska since 1988. She is an adjunct history instructor at the University of Alaska Anchorage and substitute teacher in the Anchorage School District. Like other candidates, she expresses concern about education funding. The state has defunded a lot of adjunct positions, she says, adding, "I'm hoping this election will turn the ship around." LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive rights are among her priorities as well.

Her concerns are those of her city and district, which are very diverse, she says. "I think I'm most like my voters," she explains. Nelson has missed many votes in the legislature, she says, promising, "I will be present."

Alaska: Andrew Gray

Andrew Gray, a gay man, is running for Alaska House from District 20, covering part of Anchorage. "I became very, very involved in local politics a little over a year ago," he says. "We had a new Trumpian mayor [Dave Bronson]." He cofounded Anchorage Action, which works for evidence-based solutions to homelessness, challenges political corruption, and is committed to protecting libraries from those who seek to limit access. He invited people to talk about issues and eventually added a podcast. "I accidentally gave myself the political education to run for office," he says.

Among other things, Gray spearheaded a petition for the removal of Judy Eledge as deputy director of the Anchorage Public Library after she posted racist and anti-LGBTQ+ comments on social media and was accused of mistreating library employees. Eledge, an ally of the mayor, is still in the job, however.

If he's elected to the House, his priorities will include affordable housing, mental health care, improving infrastructure, funding education, and protecting reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights. Alaska still has a constitutional amendment against marriage equality, he notes, and it would be in force if Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling, is reversed. "It would just be chaos," he says. He plans to work to remove the amendment.

A Texas native, Gray has worked as a physician assistant at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Alaska for the past five years. He is a military veteran, having deployed to Kosovo with the Alaska Army National Guard in 2019-2020. His varied resume also includes teaching English in the Czech Republic, singing with the national men's choir in Estonia, and teaching yoga.

In the election, he's up against two Republicans, Paul Bauer and Jordan Harary, and a Libertarian, Scott Kohlhaas. Gray got 52 percent of the vote against the same opponents in the primary.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Gray

South Dakota: Kameron Nelson

Kameron Nelson, a gay man, hopes to become the first out gay male state legislator in South Dakota, giving much-needed representation to the LGBTQ+ community. "I am so looking forward to standing on the House floor, and [fellow lawmakers] have to put a face to that community," he says. Angie Buhl O'Donnell, a bisexual woman, was a state senator in South Dakota from 2011 to 2015.

A resident of Sioux Falls, he is running in District 10. In South Dakota, each district elects two representatives and one senator. For the representative seats, he and fellow Democrat Erin Healy are running against Republicans John Mogen and Tom Sutton.

He promises to work for voting rights, reproductive freedom, inclusive nondiscrimination protections, economic development, a living wage, and improvements to education.

He is a South Dakota native who spent some years in the more liberal environs of Minneapolis before returning to his home state. "Ultimately, I care about my home ... I care about the people here," he says. He worked in theater production before discovering a passion for philanthropy; he is now director of major gifts for the LifeScape Foundation in Sioux Falls, which helps provide resources for children and adults with disabilities and complex medical needs.

Democrats are far outnumbered in the state legislature, but Republicans are divided between far-right and moderate factions, a situation that opens up opportunities for Democrats. "Even though we have small numbers, we really get to leverage that power," Nelson notes.

Photo courtesy of Kameron Nelson