WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Shomari Figures won election to a U.S. House seat representing Alabama on Thursday. Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who currently represents the district, is running in the neighboring 1st District after a federal court ordered Alabama to draw a new congressional district that ensured Black residents’ voting power. That decision also brought more voters who previously supported Democrat Joe Biden into the 2nd District, making it a top target for his party. Figures, a native of Mobile, previously worked for the Obama administration.
الوسم: elected
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Sarah McBride becomes first out trans person elected to US House | US elections 2024
Sarah McBride, a Delaware state senator, has made history as the first out transgender person elected to the US House of Representatives.
“Thank you, Delaware! Because of your votes and your values, I am proud to be your next member of Congress,” McBride wrote on X.
“Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that we must be a country that protects reproductive freedom, that guarantees paid leave and affordable child care for all our families, that ensures that housing and healthcare are available to everyone and that this is a democracy that is big enough for all of us.”
McBride, 34, won Delaware’s at-large House seat in Tuesday’s general election against the Republican candidate John Whalen III, a former Delaware state police officer and businessman. The House seat, Delaware’s only one, has been Democratic since 2010, the New York Times reported.
McBride defeated three other Democratic candidates in September’s primary race to secure her nomination and eventual win. She maintained her lead over Whalen in the race, at one point polling by more than 20 percentage points.
Before Tuesday’s election, McBride spoke about what it would mean to be the first transgender person elected to Congress, telling CBS News: “It is a testament to Delawareans that the candidacy of someone like me is even possible.”
McBride’s election win isn’t the first time she’s made history in her political career. She became the first out trans person elected to a state senate seat in 2020, after becoming a Democratic member of the Delaware senate. McBride was also the first out trans person to intern at the White House in 2012, during Barack Obama’s administration. She later spoke at the 2016 Democratic national convention, becoming the first transgender person to give remarks at the major political event.
Several key lawmakers have championed McBride’s congressional campaign. Joe Biden, the US president and a Delaware native and longtime friend of McBride, publicly congratulated her after her September primary victory. Lisa Blunt Rochester, the current representative for Delaware, also endorsed McBride prior to the primary race.
McBride’s campaign also snagged endorsements from prominent organizations. Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit advocating for gun control, endorsed McBride in early August. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund also endorsed McBride in February.
Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, McBride expressed interest in politics from a young age, her parents told NBC News. As a young adult, McBride volunteered for several political campaigns, including Beau Biden’s initial campaign and re-election for Delaware attorney general.
In 2011, at the age of 21, McBride came out as a trans woman in her university’s student paper and in a viral Facebook post.
Since then, McBride has worked on LGBTQ+ issues within and beyond her state. She worked on anti-discrimination legislation in Delaware that provided protection to trans people. She later served as the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. McBride also taught public policy at the University of Delaware and wrote a 2018 memoir entitled Tomorrow Will Be Different, as her state senate biography notes.
Throughout her campaign, McBride has acknowledged the historic nature of her candidacy, but has said her campaign was focused on other critical issues. “I think that folks know that I am personally invested in equality as an LGBTQ person,” McBride said to CBS. “But my priorities are going to be affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, housing, healthcare, reproductive freedom.”
McBride added that she hoped her campaign could encourage “empathy” for the trans community, especially amid a rise in discrimination, prejudice and violence, the Human Rights Campaign reported.
“We know throughout history that the power of proximity has opened even the most closed of hearts and minds,” McBride said to CBS News. “And I still believe that the power of proximity taps what I believe to be the most fundamental human emotion, which is empathy.”
A record number of anti-trans bills have also been considered in 2024, as Republican politicians continue to escalate attacks on access to gender-affirming healthcare, trans people’s participation in sports and other rights. There were 661 bills targeting transgender people considered in 2024 compared with 604 bills the previous year, according to data from Trans Legislation Tracker, an independent research organization that tracks anti-trans bills.
The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, also repeated false, anti-trans claims. His campaign and other Republican groups have spent more than $21m on anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ television ads, ABC News reported. Since August, Republicans overall have spent $65m on such ads in more than a dozen states, the New York Times reported.
Prior to her win, in response to questions about Trump, McBride told CBS: “I wouldn’t be the first person in Congress to be part of a community that Donald Trump has said outrageous things about.”
Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage
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Trump indicates he is open to RFK Jr’s proposal to ban vaccines if elected | US elections 2024
Donald Trump has suggested vaccines could be banned if he becomes president, in the clearest sign yet of a radical shake-up in public health policy should he put his ally Robert F Kennedy Jr in charge of it.
Trump on Sunday told NBC that Kennedy, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and former independent candidate who dropped out and endorsed Trump, would have a “big role in the administration” if wins Tuesday’s presidential election. Trump said he would talk to Kennedy about vaccinations.
Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that childhood vaccines cause autism, a theory scientists have debunked.
He has also said in recent days that Trump has promised him control over a broad range of public health agencies if he returns to the White House, potentially putting him in a position to implement his most radical theories.
Trump did not contradict that claim and held open the possibility of banning certain vaccines.
“Well, I’m going to talk to him and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views,” the Republican nominee told NBC.
He also appeared to uphold Kennedy’s vow – made on social media last Friday – to ban fluoride in the water supply, a practice that public health experts support as useful in combating dental disease. Kennedy called fluoride “industrial waste” and claimed it was linked to cancer. Health groups insist it is safe.
Asked by NBC for his views about getting rid of water fluoridation, Trump said: “Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me. You know, it’s possible.”
Kennedy, who sits on Trump’s transition team, claimed last week that he had been promised “control” over a range of public health and food safety agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Trump has not been specific on what responsibilities Kennedy might hold but told a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden last week that he would let him “go wild on food” and “go wild on medicines” if he wins the election.
Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s campaign, gave further credence to the weight Kennedy’s views might carry in a Trump administration when he told CNN that he could be given access to federal data on vaccines safety. He also appeared to endorse Kennedy’s opinions on the supposed risks of vaccines.
“He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take on the data and show that it’s not safe,’” Lutnick said. “Let’s give him the data. I think it’ll be pretty cool to give him the data. Let’s see what he comes up with. I think it’s pretty fun.”
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