Sarah Klimm knows a thing or two about battlefields, and she’s ready to enter another one. At 51, the retired U.S. Marine Corps gunnery sergeant and parent of three is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 11th District, which covers Lancaster County and portions of York County in the state’s south-central region. The seat has been held since 2017 by Republican Rep. Lloyd Smucker. To get there, Klimm first has to win the Democratic primary.
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For Klimm, her candidacy is less about symbolism and more about survival — hers, her neighbors’, and the country’s.
“I can’t sit by anymore,” she told The Advocate. “One of the biggest things you learn in the Marine Corps is you don’t leave anyone behind. And I see too many Americans getting left behind right now.” Klimm emphasized that her positions are hers and not those of the U.S. military.
Klimm enlisted at 17, coming of age in a military that ping-ponged through whiplash policies on LGBTQ+ service. She served before, during, and after “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and retired on the very day in 2016 that the Obama administration opened the door for transgender troops to serve openly. Along the way, she says she has mentored women breaking barriers in aviation units and led aircraft maintenance teams at MCAS Miramar in San Diego and Quantico, located just south of Washington, D.C., in Virginia.
After retiring, she attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Penn State, volunteered with Minority Veterans of America to review legislation for Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and consulted for the VA on an equity-focused study of LGBTQ-affirmative therapy. In 2025, she was selected for the Emerge Pennsylvania program, which has trained more than 200 Democratic women to run for office.
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That résumé, she argues, is less about prestige than perspective. “Every word on a piece of policy is someone’s face. And many, many times, it’s been my face and my story.”
Klimm knows exactly what’s coming: the “they/them, not us” attack lines, the weaponized pronouns, the sneering ads. She’s already seen them used against other transgender candidates like Congresswoman Sarah McBride in Delaware, who won her election handily in 2024.
Klimm’s response? A Marine’s mix of humor and dismissal.
“They want us to get stuck on pronouns. I want to get stuck on bringing grocery prices down,” she said. “You don’t have to get stuck on she or her — just call me Gunny. It’s gender neutral. We used it in the military all the time. Now let’s get to work.”
Sarah KlimmCourtesy Pictured
Whoever secures the Democratic nomination will go on to face Smucker, who secured nearly 63 percent of the vote in 2024. As of mid-2025, Smucker’s war chest exceeds $1 million in cash on hand, while Klimm has reported raising just a few thousand dollars, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Her campaign has also drawn attention from national LGBTQ+ leaders. Evan Low, president and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, told The Advocate, “We need more LGBTQ+ people and specifically more transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people to run for all levels of office — especially the federal level, where a radical right-wing anti-equality administration is determined to erase our rights and identities. Running as an out LGBTQ+ candidate is a bold and courageous act, and we encourage Klimm and other LGBTQ+ candidates running for office to connect with LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, as our organizations are dedicated to the mission of building LGBTQ+ political representation and supporting LGBTQ+ people in political office.”
Klimm sees herself as uniquely positioned to make the case against the incumbent. Her record as a Marine, a parent, and a working-class Pennsylvanian, she argues, gives her credibility across divides.
Earlier this year, she condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, which denied the existence of trans people across federal agencies. “We are not a threat to this nation but part of its strength,” Klimm said, according to Politics PA. “Our identities are valid, our existence is not up for debate, and our rights are not negotiable.”
Despite the headlines, Klimm insists she isn’t running as a “trans candidate.” Instead, she said her focus is on problems faced by her community: “Can I afford my groceries? What about the utility bill? What about housing costs?”
That’s why she’s sharply critical of the new work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that went into effect September 1. Go Erie reports that the so-called “big, beautiful bill” passed by Congress has expanded work mandates across the state, requiring non-disabled adults aged 18 to 54 to work or train for at least 20 hours a week to retain their benefits. Starting in November, the age threshold will climb to 65, and exemptions for parents of children ages 14 to 18 will be eliminated.
About 144,000 Pennsylvanians could lose their benefits because of the changes, according to state officials. Advocates have warned that the fallout will be devastating in rural counties where jobs and transportation are scarce.
“I’ve been on SNAP. I know what those programs mean,” Klimm said. “They’re not handouts. They’re a lifeline.”
Smucker, by contrast, points to Republican-backed tax cuts as his solution to affordability. On his congressional website, he highlights the GOP’s efforts to expand the child tax credit and provide relief through lower taxes, saying these measures are “putting more money back in the pockets of working families.” He argues that Democratic policies have fueled inflation while Republicans are easing the burden.
For Klimm, though, the stakes are much starker. “People are working hard and still falling behind,” she said. “Cutting safety nets makes it worse.”
Klimm is a hunter who prefers the meditative focus of archery, a mechanic who restores cars, and a fan of the irreverent banter of the rural sitcom Letterkenny. She has three children ranging from kindergarten to young adulthood, and parents navigating Medicare. She is, in short, still living the same bureaucratic and economic frustrations she campaigns on.
“I’m not running strictly as a military veteran, and I’m not running as a trans person,” she said. “I’m running as a working-class person, just like everybody else.”
In a district labeled “Safe Republican” by national forecasters, Klimm is candid about the odds. But her campaign may be less about the immediate math than about changing the conversation. If nothing else, she insists, her presence is a warning flare.
“They’ve attacked the media, free speech, attorneys, and companies. Next are our human rights organizations,” she said. “I’m here to stand in the way of that.”
It is both a vow and a dare, one that resonates with the toughness of a Marine and the vulnerability of someone who has lived at the intersection of identity, policy, and survival.
“I don’t think this place is better than I found it,” Klimm said. “So I’ve got to do some work.”
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