Regardless of who wins the chief post this week, the Americans have already made history. The counting of votes in this year’s gubernatorial election starts on Tuesday evening, for the first time with LGBT+ representation among the nominations in every single state, the LGBTQ Victory Fund reports. They write that at least 678 candidates nominated for state and federal posts are openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or queer. The figure should show an 18 percent increase since the last by-election. The picture is from a demonstration on Monday against Florida Governor Ron Desantis. Photo: GIORGIO VIERA / AFP In August this year, the UN reported that several American states have restricted the rights of LGBT+ persons. Queer people are also underrepresented in governing bodies. Several organizations with diversity as a matter of their heart are positive that the by-elections can do something about this. Will probably get her first lesbian governor Never before has a lesbian woman been elected governor of an American state. Now it seems that two may become the first. The one who fits the best is Maura Healey in Massachusetts, who became the first openly lesbian attorney general in the United States seven years ago. The picture is from the Democrats’ national convention in Massachusetts, 2022. Photo: Michael Dwyer / AP Healey stands for the Democrats, and stands for, among other things, protecting the right to abortion, reforms in the police, social services for undocumented migrants, and reducing the state’s contribution to climate change. Oregon is one of the states where the result can be either-or. Kotek is currently in a good position. Photo: Tina Kotek / Reuters Ho is running against the Republican Geoff Diehl, and according to an opinion poll from the end of October, leads with 61 percent of the vote. FiveThirtyEight writes that it is “highly likely” that Healey will win. In Oregon, the race is dead between two candidates. Tina Kotek is a democrat and a lesbian, and is fighting against Christine Drazan. Both Politico and FiveThirtyEight believe the election here could go either way, but predict cautiously in Kotek’s favor. Oregon has elected Democrats as governor since the 1980s. Hoping for greater focus on queer rights in the USA The association FRI here in Norway is positive about the increase in diversity, but does not believe that it will “automatically” lead to a change. – The fact that there is now a record high number of queer candidates for election says something about the increased opportunity open queers have to make a political career. Something that cannot be taken for granted, says leader Inge Alexander Gjestvang. Inge Alexander Gjestvang heads the association FRI. Photo: FRI – When you choose candidates and representatives with different backgrounds and experiences, there is often a greater chance of being able to develop and carry out policies that are based on a wider group of people. FRI hopes that better representation will lead to a greater focus on how the governing authorities in the USA can and must work to improve the living conditions of queer Americans. At the same time, he clarifies that queer politicians will not necessarily want to work only for and with queer issues. – Certain politicians may have a need to be something more than a queer politician, but it is positive to have more experience and more knowledge anyway. – Especially in a country where in recent years there have been many setbacks against, for example, access to knowledge about queer life in schools. Also more female candidates than ever Since the dawn of time, 45 women have held the post of governor in the United States. 27 of these ran for the Democrats, and 18 for the Republicans, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). The very first female governor was Nellie Taylor Ross, who filled the void when her husband died. Ross was governor of Wyoming, and a Democrat. When her husband died, Nellie Taylor Ross became the first female governor of the United States. Photo: AP The first to be elected was Ella T. Grasso, in 1975. She also ran for the Democrats. Nevertheless, since what was designated as “women’s year” in American politics (1992, when 11 women won in the Senate and 108 in the House of Representatives), little has happened with the number of women in candidate nominations. These were around 10 from 1990 to 2018. Only then did the number rise to 16, and this year to 25. So more women are standing as candidates in 2022 than ever before. Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon all have two female candidates running against each other. Three black women, but none likely to win This year too, there is an overwhelming majority of white Americans, also among the women. In 2018, Democrat Stacey Abrams was the only black woman to run for governor in an American state. Now three candidates are fighting to become the first black female governor in the United States. Abrams is known for getting a historically large number of black voters to cast their ballots, and nearly won in Georgia four years ago. In the end, it was the Republican opponent Brian Kemp who won. Abrams is not doing as well in the polls this year as in 2018. Photo: John Amis / AP She is running again this year, but is not doing as well this time. This is despite the fact that she got a lot of credit for President Joe Biden’s reputation in Georgia in 2020. Politico and FiveThirtyEight both predict a victory for Kemp, who is also running again. He is 8.2 percent ahead of Abrams in RCP’s latest poll. The other two candidates, who in theory can make history this election, are also standing for the Democrats. The first mentioned is Yolanda Flowers in Alabama, who prioritizes less discrimination and more money for public schools, better health care for the working class, and fewer inmates in the state’s prisons. Yolanda Flowers is the Democrat’s candidate in Alabama. Photo: CHENEY ORR / Reuters The other is Deidre Dejear in Iowa, who also wants better funding for public schools, cheaper kindergartens, a higher minimum age for buying guns, and to protect the right to abortion. Neither Flowers nor Dejear fare particularly well in the opinion polls, and are therefore not predicted to win this time.
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These are the records the by-election is set to break – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
