• Christine Hallquist becomes first transgender governor nominee for a major party
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/politics/christine-hallquist-vermont.html BURLINGTON, Vt. — On a cloudy afternoon this summer, Christine Hallquist, a former utility executive from Vermont, listened closely as Danica Roem, the Virginia state delegate who won national recognition when she became the first transgender person elected to her state’s Legislature, offered tips as the pair canvassed a stark residential neighborhood here. Ms. Hallquist is transgender, too, but Ms. Roem’s advice had nothing to do with gender identity. Try a light, rhythmic knock. Leave a handwritten note with campaign literature if no one is home. Try to earn every vote.“I have so much to learn,” Ms. Hallquist said, duly incorporating Ms. Roem’s lessons with each new knock. On Tuesday, those lessons paid off, and Ms. Hallquist, a Democrat, made history of her own. She became the first transgender candidate to be nominated for a governorship by a major party, beating three other candidates in Vermont’s Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press. It is a remarkable milestone, even for an election year already dominated by an influx of women and a record number of candidates who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender or queer. Ms. Hallquist was not the only transgender candidate on the ballot in the country in recent days. In Hawaii on Saturday, Kim Coco Iwamoto, a lawyer, lost her bid to be the Democrats’ nominee for lieutenant governor. And more transgender candidates will be on the ballot soon, including Alexandra Chandler, a former naval intelligence analyst who is running in Massachusetts’s Third District. Ms. Chandler is trying to differentiate herself in a crowded congressional primary in early September by emphasizing both her national security bona fides and the historic nature of her candidacy. “I’m running for Congress,” she said in a recent campaign video, “to be a voice for trans kids out there.” The Democratic primary in Vermont was a fairly sleepy affair, with no big-name contenders to block a first-time candidate like Ms. Hallquist. But from here, her path to the governor’s office could be a narrow one, even though she is a Democrat running in a deeply progressive state. She faces a Republican incumbent, Phil Scott, who is running for his second term with history on his side — Vermonters have not thrown out an incumbent governor since 1962. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat as “solid Republican.” Mr. Scott’s popularity fell, however, especially among conservatives, after he signed gun control measures this year. Still, a poll in July by public media organizations in the state found two-thirds of Vermonters supported the law, and nearly half of Democrats had a favorable opinion of Mr. Scott. Only 18 percent of Democratic respondents in the same poll said they had a favorable opinion of Ms. Hallquist, and 55 percent did not yet know who she was. Before she ran for governor, Ms. Hallquist spent 12 years as the chief executive of the Vermont Electric Cooperative, an in-state power utility that she helped to bring back from near ruin. Her transition from male to female took place in 2015, while she was at the helm of the company, and was the subject of a documentary film made by her son. Ms. Hallquist — who voted for Mr. Scott in 2016, according to the newsweekly Seven Days — also sought to tie her victory to the broader Democratic backlash against President Trump. “This,” she said, “is a reaction to 2016.” “I’m not sure why that plays a part in this — we’re talking about two human beings that are running for an office,” Ms. Billado said, referring to Ms. Hallquist and Mr. Scott. “I think that’s as far as the conversation should go.”
Statistically we should elect a trans governor approximately every 4 years so this seems a bit overdue
https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1029710467089018880
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