31-year-old Bre Kidman is making history as the first openly non-binary Senate candidate. Kidman, a criminal defense attorney, is running for Susan Collins’s seat senate seat in Maine. After Collins voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Kidman decided it was time to get into politics.
“I felt called to do everything I could to stand up to a system where it looks to me as though fascism is rising in the United States,” Kidman told HuffPost. “I had this very strong feeling that I have do everything I can do to stop that.”
Kidman’s platform is progressive: they’re focused on campaign finance reform, climate policy, a $15 an hour minimum wage, protecting reproductive rights, promoting criminal justice reform, and tackling America’s mass incarceration crisis.
Kidman believes their experiences make them a strong competitor in this longshot race against other candidates Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon and Betsy Sweet, a lobbyist.
“Despite all of these things that make me unlike the majority of the population, let alone the majority of Mainers, these are things that I hope to translate to all people who are middle class and struggling,” Kidman told HuffPost. “I want to fight for people who are having that experience regardless of whether they are LGBTQ or straight or religious or secular, regardless of what groups they are from. The most important thing to me is that we’re making space for everyone.”
Kidman has already made one important change when it comes to making the Senate race more inclusive. When Kidman was filling out their Senate application online, they realized that there was no “Mx.” option on the form. Kidman requested that the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics add “Mx.” to the drop-down form, and within a week, it had been added.
Bre Kidman called it a “small fix” but also added, “the next non-binary person to run for Senate isn’t going to look at that drop-down menu and feel like there isn’t a space for them.”
