Sarah McBride Will Be the First Openly Trans Member of Congress
The Democrat defeated Republican opponent John Whalen III and swooped the state’s only House seat
Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride will become the first openly transgender person to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Associated Press called her victory over Republican John Whalen III at 9:43 p.m. EST.
McBride, who defeated her Democratic primary opponents with 80 precent of the vote in September, won the state’s sole House seat. She will succeed fellow Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester as Delaware’s at-large member of Congress.
In June 2023, McBride announced her bid to become the first trans member of Congress. “My commitment is to the people in Delaware who aren’t seen, who don’t shout the loudest or fund political campaigns — parents busy raising their children, seniors worried about paying for prescription drugs, working people struggling to keep up,” McBride said in an announcement video at the time. “Everyone deserves a member of Congress who sees them and respects them.”
In 2012, McBride became the first trans person to work in the White House when she started as an intern in the Obama administration and also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, becoming the first openly trans person to address a major U.S. party convention. “Four years ago I came out as transgender while serving as student body president in college,” she said at the DNC at the time. “At the time, I was scared. I worried that my dreams and my identity were mutually exclusive. Since then, though, I have seen that change is possible.”
Speaking with Reuters ahead of her election, McBride said that, “Whenever you are first, you often have to try to be the best version that you can.” She added that the role comes with “added responsibilities … But none of them matter if I don’t fulfill the responsibility of just being the best member of Congress that I can be for Delaware.”
