LGBTQ+ ally Ruben Gallego has seemingly won his race against anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Kari Lake for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat. He won 50% of the vote, beating Lake by 66,305 votes with 93% of all voting precincts reporting as of Monday morning, Decision Desk HQ reported. He has not yet made a statement commenting on his projected victory.
As such, Gallego will win the Senate seat that will soon be vacated by outgoing bisexual Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema — a controversial figure in the Senate, often frustrating Democratic priorities — left the Democratic party in late 2022, after earning enmity from other Arizona Democrats for not helping others get reelected that year. She announced her retirement from the Senate in early March.
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Gallego has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. In 2015, Rep. Gallego signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Equality Act, a comprehensive federal anti-discrimination bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to pre-existing anti-discrimination laws. He voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which provides federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
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In February 2022, Gallego co-signed a letter from the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus opposing Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which forbids LGBTQ+ instruction in the state’s public schools. While serving as a Marine, he was a member of Voices of Honor, a group of military members that spoke out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), the national ban on out gay and bisexual military service members.
Lake, on the other hand, is a former local news anchor and failed 2022 candidate for Arizona governor who has repeatedly claimed that she and former President Donald Trump lost their respective elections due to an voter fraud that was never successfully proven in courts.
Lake has expressed anti-LGBTQ+ views and made derogatory comments about the LGBTQ+ community. During her 2022 campaign, she appeared in an ad with a pastor who called LGBTQ+ people “child molesters.” Lake has previously voiced support for anti-trans policies including sports and bathroom bans. She has also written posts against exposing kids to “drag queens” and “woke” teachers. A local drag queen called her a hypocrite because she once took her child to see him perform in drag.
In February 2022, Lake said she would not support legislation expanding or protecting LGBTQ+ state civil rights protections.
As of Monday morning, Republicans have won 53 of the U.S. Senate’s 100 seats — Democrats have won 46 seats and two were won by other politically affiliated candidates.
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