Transgender candidates won several federal, state and local elections this cycle, despite Republicans spending over $200 million on an ad campaign that falsely presented trans people as a threat to the nation.

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) won the state’s sole House seat on Tuesday, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

“Because of your votes and your values, I am proud to be your next member of Congress,” McBride said on social media. “Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that…this is a democracy that is big enough for all of us.”

McBride, former national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, campaigned on expanding access to health care and child care, protecting reproductive rights, and implementing gun reform. She was endorsed and funded by pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, and has said that she would oppose any proposal to place restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel.

McBride’s win comes after the election of Democrat Kim Coco Iwamoto in August to the Hawaii House of Representatives. Iwamoto, who is Hawaii’s first openly transgender elected official, was the first person in U.S. history to unseat an incumbent House speaker in a Democratic primary.

Voters also elected Democrat Aime Wichtendahl, a member of the Hiawatha City Council, to Iowa’s state House, making her Iowa’s first transgender state lawmaker.

Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) was also reelected, ensuring her return to the state House floor nearly two years after she was silenced and sanctioned by her Republican colleagues for defending the right of trans youth to gender-affirming care.

“It is an honor to........

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