Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware to become first openly transgender person to serve in Congress

LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo)

DOVER, Del. — Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride has been elected to the U.S. House and will become the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress.

McBride easily defeated Republican John Whalen IIII on Tuesday in the race for Delaware’s lone House seat. Whalen is a retired construction company owner and former state trooper who ran a shoestring campaign in his first bid for public office.

McBride, meanwhile, has established a national profile as an LGBTQ activist and raised more than US$3 million in campaign contributions from around the country. She achieved national recognition at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States.

After scoring an easy Democrat primary win in September, McBride said she was not running for Congress to make history, but instead “to make historic progress for Delawareans.”

As a state senator, McBride has earned a reputation for working on health care issues, including successfully sponsoring legislation to create a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program. McBride also sponsored legislation to address Medicaid reimbursement rates for home health care services and expand access to dental care for low-income Delawareans. Another bill she sponsored imposed a 3.58 per cent tax on net revenue of Delaware’s hospitals as a way to leverage additional federal Medicaid funds. All those measures were enacted into law.

Democrats have held Delaware’s U.S. House seat since 2010. The seat was left open last year after Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester opted to run for the U.S. Senate spot being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Carper.