Minnesota State Capitol gains first trans legislator in Leigh Finke
Campaign headshot of Leigh Finke, courtesy of her Minnesota House of Representatives seat 66A campaign website in 2022.
The Minnesota State Capitol gained its first-ever out transgender legislator after voters chose Democrat Leigh Finke over Republican Trace Johnson for Minnesota House of Representatives seat 66A Tuesday.
The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which claims to be “the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ people,” says more non-cisgender candidates ran than ever before in 2022:
“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 and 9.1 percent in 2018. 54 nonbinary and/or genderqueer candidates ran in 2022, compared to 17 in 2020 and just four in 2018.”
The group also says 2022 was the first election that LGBTQ+ candidates ran in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Finke and company celebrated the win Tuesday night in St. Paul, calling the victory a “milestone” for Minnesota’s trans community at a time when anti-trans legislation has boomed nationwide.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which advocates for many values popular with left-leaning voters, continually updates a list of legislation affecting LGBTQ people here.
As of this publishing, Johnson has not made any statements regarding the results.
After she is sworn in, Finke will represent a portion of Ramsey County constituents, shown by this map on the Minnesota Secretary of State website.
To learn more about Finke and her campaign platform, visit her website or read her Ballotpedia questionnaire responses.
To view complete Minnesota race results, click here. To see Wisconsin elections coverage, click here.