In what’s being called a “rainbow wave,” a record breaking amount of out LGBTQ+ candidates won their races in the U.S. midterm elections this year.
While many races still haven’t been called yet, at least 400 openly LGBTQ+ candidates had won their elections as of Thursday afternoon. Meaning that this “rainbow wave” breaks the previous record from 2020, when 244 out LGBTQ+ candidates were elected.
678 openly gay, transgender, bisexual, lesbian & queer candidates ran for office in the U.S. midterms this year. With at least 400 of them winning, LGBTQ+ candidates will have a midterm success rate of 58% thus far.
Out of the out LGBTQ+ candidates that ran for office in these midterms, the vast majority were democrat. This coincides with voter trends as 84% of LGBTQ+ voters supported democratic candidates in this election according to an exit poll from NBC News.
There were several notable firsts among the LGBTQ+ midterm wins. Maura Healey beacame the first lesbian candidate to be elected governor of a U.S. state. “I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever you want to be,” she said in her victory speech. “And nothing and no one can ever get in your way except your own imagination, and that’s not going to happen.”