— Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride won the state’s only House seat Tuesday, NBC News projects, making her the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
McBride, a Democrat, defeated Republican John Whalen III, taking 57.8% of the vote with 95% of the vote in.
She thanked her friends and family and her late husband, Andy Cray, who died of cancer in 2014, just days after their wedding.
“While at this moment in America’s history, hope sometimes feels hard to come by, we must never forget that we are the beneficiaries of seemingly impossible change.”.
McBride’s key priorities for her congressional run were expanding access to affordable health care, protecting reproductive rights and increasing the minimum wage.
She walked him through the policies she worked on in the state Senate, and “she won me over,” he said.
McBride’s historic win comes during an election cycle where Republicans have leaned into anti-transgender rhetoric and political ads. »
