Sarah McBride elected as country’s first transgender member of Congress

WILMINGTON, Del — Democrat Sarah McBride has been elected to Congress, and will be the first openly transgender person serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Heading into Election Day, McBride’s historic victory in Delaware’s only congressional district was almost guaranteed after she defeated two other Democrats in the state’s primary earlier this year, scooping up more than 80% of the vote in the primary. Delaware is a deeply blue state, and McBride was a heavy favorite against her opponent, Republican John Whalen. 

McBride will also be the youngest person Delaware has sent to Washington since Joe Biden won a Senate seat in 1972.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:45 p.m. ET Tuesday.

In 2020, McBride made headlines when she was elected to the Delaware State Senate, becoming the first openly transgender state senator in the U.S. 

McBride’s campaign has focused heavily on issues of healthcare, and like many Democrats she ran on a platform promising to expand reproductive rights in Congress. 

She interned at the White House under former President Barack Obama and made history at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention.

McBride has long-standing ties to Delaware’s best-known political family. She worked on the late Beau Biden’s campaigns for state attorney general, and Beau’s father, President Joe Biden, wrote the foreword to her 2018 memoir. She also worked on the campaign of former Gov. Jack Markell.

McBride replaces Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who sought and won her race for one of Delaware’s U.S. Senate seats instead. 

McBride’s campaign generated interest and money from around the country, bringing in more than $270,000 in donations as of early October 2020, eclipsing fundraising totals even for candidates for statewide office in Delaware.

A former student body president at American University, McBride started in politics as a volunteer for Matt Denn, former legal counsel to Delaware’s governor, during his successful 2004 campaign for insurance commissioner. Denn, who later served as lieutenant governor and attorney general, worked with McBride’s father at a Wilmington law firm known for its close ties to the Democratic Party establishment.