2023 Sees Record for LGBTQ+ Political Candidates in Odd-Numbered Year

Voters in the states holding elections Tuesday have more out LGBTQ+ candidates to choose from than in any odd-numbered year ever.

At least 514 out candidates ran or are running in 2023 elections, up 19.5 percent from in 2021, when 430 out candidates ran, and a 34.6 percent increase from 2019, when 382 ran, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s latest “Out on the Trail” report. Fifty-two have already been elected and 312 will be on the ballot Tuesday. Victory Fund, which supports out candidates who meet certain standards, has endorsed 259 of the total, 156 of whom will be on Tuesday’s ballot.

The out candidates are a diverse group. They are running in 41 states and the District of Columbia, for offices including state legislatures, city councils, and school boards.

LGBTQ+ candidates of color ran in greater numbers than in any odd-numbered election year in history — at least 164 — a 46.4 percent increase from 2019, although the pace of growth slowed between 2021 and 2023. The number of Latinx LGBTQ+ candidates grew by 40 percent from 2021 (from 40 to 56), while the number of Black LGBTQ+ candidates and Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ candidates decreased slightly.

Related: Here Are the LGBTQ+ Races to Watch on Election Day 2023

As categorized by sexual orientation, there was a great increase in bisexual candidates, with the number more than tripling from 2019 to 2023 (from 24 to 74) and increasing by 76.2 percent from 2021. Pansexual and queer candidates saw large increases as well. The count of lesbian candidates increased by 18.3 percent from 2021 to 2023, from 60 to 71, after seeing an overall decline between 2019 and 2021.

As sorted by gender identity, the number of genderqueer and nonbinary candidates has grown dramatically, from five in 2019 to 37 in 2023. The number of transgender women candidates increased by 15.4 percent between 2021 and 2023, from 26 to 30, but the number of transgender men candidates decreased slightly, from six to four. This year 80 candidates overall identified as something other than cisgender, up from the 28 who did so in 2019.

Cisgender men remained the majority — representing 55 percent of all LGBTQ+ candidates – although their growth was slowest of all gender identities. The number of cisgender women candidates grew at a faster rate than cisgender men between 2019 and 2023, 40.8 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively.

LGBTQ+ representation is nearly nationwide. The only states with no out candidates running this year are Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Of the 514 out 2023 candidates, 348 (70.4 percent) ran for local positions (excluding mayors and school boards), 59 (11.9 percent) for school board, 40 (8.1 percent) for state legislature, 37 for mayor (7.5 percent), five (1 percent) for judicial positions, four (0.8 percent) for federal special elections, and one (0.2 percent) for statewide races. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of LGBTQ+ state legislative candidates more than doubled, coming at a time when legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ people in state legislatures have grown dramatically.

Some of the highest-profile candidates in Tuesday’s races are Danica Roem, out to become Virginia’s first trans state senator; Fabian Nelson, a gay man running to be Mississippi’s first out legislator; Luanne Peterpaul, a lesbian seeking to become the first woman from the LGBTQ+ community to be a state legislator in New Jersey; and Rue Landau, also a lesbian, who would be the first out member of the Philadelphia City Council.

“As politicians in state legislatures and on school boards levied unprecedented attacks on our community and our kids, LGBTQ+ leaders responded, running for office in record numbers,” Victory Fund President and CEO Annise Parker said in a press release. “We saw more LGBTQ+ candidates of color, trans candidates, nonbinary candidates, and bisexual candidates than in any other election year. And in November, voters in 41 states and the District of Columbia can reject the politics of hate and instead mark their ballot for an LGBTQ+ candidate.”

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