LGBTQ Candidates on the Ballot in All 50 States for First Time

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ leaders to public office, released its 2022 Out on the Trail report.

This is the only annual report on the number and diversity of LGBTQ candidates who ran for office in 2022. At least 1,065 openly LGBTQ people ran or are running for offices with elections in 2022, the most in history.

Of the 1,065 candidates, 678 will appear on the ballot in November, an 18.1 percent increase from 2020 when 574 candidates were on the November ballot.

LGBTQ Victory Fund President Annise Parker released the following statement:

“Voters are sick and tired of the relentless attacks lobbed against the LGBTQ community this year. Bigots want us to stay home and stay quiet, but their attacks are backfiring and instead have motivated a new wave of LGBTQ leaders to run for office. When they tried to ban books and censor LGBTQ kids and teachers, a record number of LGBTQ people ran for school board. When they introduced a historic number of anti-LGBTQ laws in state legislatures, LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures like never before. When they tried to stall federal pro-equality legislation, we ran for Congress like never before. This November, we have an opportunity to elect more LGBTQ people to office than ever before. But it’s going to take each and every one of us. Sitting on the sidelines isn’t an option when our rights are on the chopping block. This is a time for action. This is a time for unity.”

Among the key findings:

• For the first time in history, LGBTQ candidates ran in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

• A history-making 63.7 percent of known LGBTQ candidates won their primaries and will appear on the ballot in November, compared to 57.1 percent of candidates in 2020.

• 416 LGBTQ people ran for state legislatures this year, the most in U.S. history.

• The proportion of LGBTQ candidates of color grew significantly in 2022, accounting for 38.2 percent of all LGBTQ candidates.

• Candidates who are not cisgender (including transgender, nonbinary and gender non-conforming candidates) ran in record-breaking numbers, representing 13.9 percent of all LGBTQ candidates compared to 7.9 percent in 2020.