LGBTQ+ leaders

Since 1991, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has helped elect thousands of candidates to positions at all levels of government. The organization supports pro-equality, pro-choice, out LGBTQ+ candidates who it knows can win their elections and fight for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. The following are candidates the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is supporting on a national level:

Angie Craig
Minnesota
Position Sought: U.S. Senate
Current Position: U.S. House of Representatives, MN-02
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: August 11, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: First out LGBTQ+ Senator from Minnesota
Angie Craig’s life is a story of grit, determination, and an unshakeable commitment to leveling the playing field for Minnesotans.
She grew up in a mobile home park and was raised by a single mom. Working two jobs, she helped put herself through state college. She started her career as a newspaper reporter and worked her way up over 20 years in business, eventually leading a workforce of 16,000 for a major Minnesota manufacturer.
Craig is married to a former Minnesota middle school teacher, Cheryl. The two are mothers to four amazing adult men and grandmothers to three young grandsons.
Craig flipped a Republican congressional seat and helped take back Congress in 2018. During her time in Congress, she has taken on the powerful to fight for what’s right. She’s taken on Big Pharma, writing legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs. She’s stood up to corporate monopolies that are jacking up costs. She’s worked to expand apprenticeship and job training programs and fought like hell on behalf of family farmers.
Craig is ready to take on policies that are hurting working folks in our country and take the fight to Republicans.

Sharice Davids
Kansas
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, KS-03
Current Position: U.S. House of Representatives, KS-03
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: August 4, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Milestones: First out LGBTQ member of Congress from Kansas and one of the first Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress
Sharice Davids is currently serving Kansas’ Third Congressional District in Congress. She was raised by a single mom who spent more than 20 years serving in the U.S. Army. Davids was the first person in her family to attend college. She worked her way from Johnson County Community College to Cornell Law School, juggling multiple jobs to put herself through school.
Davids went on to work in economic and community development on Native American reservations, helping tribes to create programs and initiatives for growth. This work inspired her to apply for the prestigious White House Fellowship program, where she served under President Obama.
Davids ran for Congress to give Kansans a voice who represents their values and interests, and to make sure everyone has the same opportunities to achieve their goals that she did. In flipping this seat from red to blue, she became one of the first two Native American women ever to serve in Congress and the first LGBTQ+ Native American elected to Congress.

Jolanda Jones
Texas
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, TX-18
Current Position: Texas House of Representatives, District 147
Party Affiliation: Democrat
General Election: November 4, 2025
Goal: First out LGBTQ+ Black woman elected to Congress
Jolanda Jones has worked on behalf of LGBTQ+ people for decades. As the first openly LGBTQ+ Black representative elected to the Texas House, she helped pass the bill to repeal the sodomy law. She vehemently fought against the multitude of anti-trans legislation — and she won’t stop fighting until they are all repealed.
In Congress, Jones will fight to stop cuts to healthcare and Medicaid, Social Security, education, and veterans. She’ll fight to lower the cost of prescription drugs, expand coverage for mental health care and substance abuse, and make healthcare more affordable and accessible for all.
Jones has been fighting her entire career for women’s rights, bodies, and voices, and will never stop working to restore abortion rights to make sure women — not politicians — make their own healthcare decisions.

JoAnna Mendoza
Arizona
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, AZ-06
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: August 4, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: First LGBTQ+ person to represent AZ-06 in Congress
JoAnna Mendoza was born and raised in Pinal County, Arizona. She grew up in a farmworker family, experiencing firsthand the challenges of poverty in a rural area. Despite their hard work, her family often struggled to make ends meet. This experience instilled in her a a strong desire to give back to her community and embark on a career of public service.
At 17, Mendoza answered the call to serve her country in the U.S. Navy, where she spent three years before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. She became a drill instructor, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and over her 20-year military career witnessed the immense sacrifices made by service members and their families.
Upon retirement, Mendoza came home to Arizona to raise her son, Aidan, as a single mom. She is dedicated to serving the communities that shaped her. A lifelong servant leader, she is deeply committed to tackling the challenges facing her district, including reducing the cost of food, gas, and housing. She understands the struggles of Arizona’s families and is dedicated to serving the communities that shaped her.

Kevin Morrison
Illinois
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, IL-08
Current Position: Cook County Commission, District 15
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: March 17, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: Second out LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Illinois
Here is Kevin Morrison’s story in his own words:
I am the grandson of Italian immigrants. My grandparents came to America with almost nothing after my great-grandfather was murdered at the end of World War II. My grandpa sold vegetables out of a truck in Chicago and used the money he earned to open a snack shop. As the business grew, he bought the restaurant in Norwood Park that my family still owns today.
By the time I was born, my ma and my aunt were running the restaurant. It was rare to see women in charge, especially then. Witnessing the misogyny my mother experienced as a business owner helped inform me of the injustices that still impact so many communities today.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ve lived through discrimination, too. I spent years in the closet, and I was bullied in school. For a long time, I didn’t think someone like me could be elected to public office, because I had never seen it.

Jeremy Moss
Michigan
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, MI-11
Current Position: Michigan State Senate, District 11
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: August 4, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: First out LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Michigan
Jeremy Moss is running for Congress in this critical moment because he believes we need a new generation of leaders to step up, take action and fight back.
An Oakland County native and a barrier-breaking lawmaker, Moss has a record of delivering results and reforming government institutions to better serve Michiganders. He was first elected by pushing back against the status quo as the youngest-ever member of the Southfield City Council. He then went on to serve in the Michigan House and Senate.
As Michigan’s first openly gay Senator, he strengthened the state’s civil rights law to ban housing and employment discrimination. As chair of the Michigan Senate Elections Committee, he expanded access to the ballot box. And when Roe v. Wade was overturned, he acted swiftly to safeguard reproductive healthcare.
In Congress, Moss will champion bold policies and confront harmful ones.

Chris Pappas
New Hampshire
Position Sought: U.S. Senate
Current Position: U.S. House of Representatives, NH-01
Party Affiliation: Democrat
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: First out LGBTQ+ man elected to the U.S. Senate
Born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Chris Pappas is a small business owner and community-driven leader with a record of addressing some of New Hampshire’s most pressing challenges. A proud product of Manchester public schools, Pappas has dedicated his time in public service to putting people before politics to deliver opportunities to families in every community across the state. He has earned a reputation as a results-driven leader long before his election to Congress.
After graduating from Harvard College in 2002, Pappas returned to New Hampshire to help run his family’s 106-year-old business, the Puritan Backroom Restaurant. Prior to serving in Congress, he represented District 4 on the New Hampshire Executive Council. When he was elected to the U.S. House in 2018, he became New Hampshire’s first openly gay member of Congress.
In Congress, Pappas serves on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Small Business Committee. He has sponsored legislation to support New Hampshire’s small businesses, improve access to affordable health care for Granite Staters, fight to get veterans the benefits they have earned, combat the opioid epidemic, and protect our drinking water.

Emily Randall
Washington
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives, WA-06
Current Position: U.S. House of Representatives, WA-06
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: August 4, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Milestone: First out LGBTQ+ Latina in Congress
Emily Randall is running for Congress in the district where she grew up. She comes from a family of public servants, committed to their friends and neighbors. Her family instilled in her a sense of optimism, of love of country, and of community, even in the face of hardship.
As a queer woman of color, she is inspired to bring an intersectional lens to the issues she cares deeply about – from women’s health and reproductive justice, to LGBTQ equality and environmental justice – voices often left out of policy conversations, and ones that are needed for working toward justice, fairness, and equality.

Eric Sorensen
Illinois
Position Sought: U.S. House of Representatives , IL-17
Current Position: U.S. House of Representatives, IL-17
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: March 17, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Milestone: First out LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress from Illinois
Growing up, Eric Sorensen was terrified of storms. But his local weatherman, “TV Eric,” explained what was happening, and helped him feel safe during them. From a young age Sorensen knew he wanted to be “TV Eric.”
Sorensen came out while attending Northern Illinois University and received tremendous support from his friends and family. After graduating college, he moved south to Texas for his first television job. He remembers his dad telling him that things would be “different” for him in Texas, and that it shouldn’t be that way.
Unfortunately, his dad was right. Sorensen experienced discrimination in that first job. He was called into his bosses’ office with a copy of his contract sitting on the desk and the “moral clause” highlighted. He was told he couldn’t be gay and work there.
Sorensen’s experiences in Rockford and the Quad Cities were quite different — he was able to be out on TV. In the Quad Cities, he took a more active role in his LGBTQ+ community, serving on the boards of Clock Inc. and The Project of the Quad Cities.
Today Sorensen lives in Moline with his partner, Shawn, and their two dogs, Oliver and Petey.

SPECIAL FEATURED CANDIDATE
Toni Atkins
California
Position Sought: Governor of California
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Primary Election: June 2, 2026
General Election: November 3, 2026
Goal: First woman and first out LGBTQ+ governor of California
Toni Atkins’ story started in the rural reaches of Appalachia, where she grew up one of four children. Despite working themselves to the bone, her father, a lead and coal miner, and her mother, a seamstress who worked in a garment factory, lived paycheck to paycheck and rented a home without running water and an outhouse to share.
She went to church camp on a scholarship and dreamed of being the first person in her family to go to college. That dream came true as she worked hard in school and graduated from Emory & Henry College in Virginia.
Atkins’ early years taught her the value of a dollar — and, more importantly, the values that help you get through when dollars are scarce: Doing the best you possibly can for others. Safeguarding the most vulnerable among us. Respecting people’s decisions and protecting their dignity.
She first heard about California from her father, who reminisced about a beautiful place where he was stationed while serving in World War II. She daydreamed about one day going there while she was working in a dry cleaner — until the day she got a call from her twin sister, Tenia, who was stationed in San Diego while serving in the Navy and whose husband, also in the Navy, was being deployed. It was the mid-1980s, and her sister was soon to deliver their first child and needed help.
Atkins packed her car and set out from Virginia to California to help her twin. She stayed to help millions more.
At just 27, she was named the director of clinic services at San Diego’s Womancare
Health Center, where she helped low-income women access reproductive care — even when anti-abortion extremists tried to block access. Years later, as a legislator, she proudly wrote laws that removed obstacles keeping women from getting the healthcare they needed, especially in rural areas and other underserved communities. After the gut-wrenching Dobbs decision leaked, she wrote the constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion and contraception for generations to come — and led the effort with Planned Parenthood and other grassroots clinics and organizations to ensure it was approved by a majority of California voters.
After working in the women’s clinic, Atkins went to work as a staff member at City Hall, later running and winning a seat on the City Council in 2000, where she passed San Diego’s first living wage law. When the mayor of San Diego resigned during a period of crisis, Atkins served as acting mayor and helped San Diego successfully navigate the scandal.
Elected by voters to the state Assembly in 2010, Atkins served there for six years. In 2014, her colleagues selected her to be the Speaker of the Assembly, becoming the first San Diegan and the first lesbian to hold the position. In that role, as someone who grew up in a house without running water, Atkins counts passing a $7.5 billion investment in clean, safe and reliable drinking water supplies as one of her proudest accomplishments.
In 2016, San Diego voters elected her to the state Senate — and after just one year, she was selected by her colleagues to serve as Senate President Pro Tempore, becoming the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to lead the Legislature’s upper house. Atkins is the first person in 150 years, the third person in California history, and the only woman to lead both houses of the Legislature.