Washington State Senator Emily Randall made history when she became the first LGBTQ+ state senator in WA in 2018. Now, she’s poised to make history a second time after winning the primary election for the state’s 6th Congressional District Tuesday.
The democrat received 33.28 percent of the primary vote, according to Washington’s Secretary of State. Randall now heads into the general election in November, where she’ll face off against Republican Drew MacEwen, who only received 30.32 percent of the primary vote.
If she’s successful, she’ll become the first out queer Latina in Congress and the first out LGBTQ+ official to represent Washington at the federal level.
Randall has already won over the full support of multiple LGBTQ+ organizations. The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which works to elect pro-choice, pro-equality LGBTQ leaders, has been a long-standing supporter of the candidate.
“…[I]t’s far overdue that LGBTQ+ Latinas are represented in the halls of power,” President and CEO Annise Parker said in a statement. “We have stood with Emily in each of her races, from flipping a seat in 2018 to this hard-fought Congressional primary win. We will continue to do everything we can to mobilize pro-equality, pro-choice voters to come out and secure a general election victory in November.”
Equality PAC also celebrated Randall’s primary win. The organization has invested more than $700,000 throughout her primary campaign and will continue to support her into the general election.
“Through her tenacity, determination, strength, and with the help of Equality PAC’s supporters, Emily’s campaign never lost momentum,” said Co-Chairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) and Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY). “And when elected in November, we will add a new voice to the Equality Caucus that will help us defend LGBTQ rights and freedoms as a part of our new Pro-Equality Majority in the House. We are excited to continue to support Emily and her campaign to ensure we keep Washington state’s 6th Congressional District blue this November.”
Randall’s platform is dedicated to expanding educational opportunities by pushing for affordable tuition and job-training to place students in living-wage jobs. She’s also focused on affordable health care access for women, children, and LGBTQ+ people. During her time in office, she has sponsored bills to help low-income students receive state grants, strengthen pay transparency requirements for employers, and fund health care access.
