After clinching a primary win in Vermont Tuesday night, Christine Hallquist is on a path to becoming the nation’s first transgender governor.
The progressive Democrat and first-time candidate beat out three other candidates and now goes up against the Republican incumbent Phil Scott, in a state that hasn’t unseated an incumbent governor in 56 years. And although Vermont is pretty solidly blue, Scott has enjoyed high approval ratings, according to NPR. Support for him dipped after he tightened the state’s gun restrictions in April.
Even so, Hallquist, 62, has plenty of wind in her sails. She’s the first openly transgender person to be nominated for governor by any major party in the U.S., and running in the first state to recognize same-sex marriages. She’s thrown her weight behind popular progressive movements like Medicare-for-all, which has been championed by popular fellow Vermonter Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former chief executive officer of the Vermont Electric Cooperative — a power utility in the state — says she wants to take Vermont to 90 percent renewable energy supply by 2050. She’s running on better broadband access and a higher minimum wage, too.
“Vermonters are going to elect me on the platform. They are not going to elect me because of the fact that I’m transgender — that’s the reality,” Hallquist told the Associated Press. “Obviously, nationwide it’s significant, the first transgender governor. It is pioneering.”
Sanders congratulated Hallquist on Twitter after her win. A representative with Hallquist’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Let’s continue making history and win this November,” Sanders wrote.Scott has out-raised Hallquist, though, garnering about $177,000 by mid-July, according to the Associated Press. And a PAC backed by the Republican Governors Association has more than $1 million in its coffers to support Scott. Hallquist, meanwhile, had pulled around $132,000 by mid-July, and said she planned to return $16,000 in corporate donations.“I tell people this isn’t the hardest thing I ever did. In fact, I think after transitioning, everything else looks pretty easy,” Hallquist told [The Guardian.
](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/vermont-primary-christine-hallquist-candidate-governor)Hallquist beat three other Democratic candidates bidding for the governor’s seat, including a 14-year-old boy, who was able to run because the state has no age restrictions on running for office.
She came out as a transgender woman in 2015, and was the first business leader in the country to transition while in office, according to her campaign website. She’s not the only openly transgender candidate vying for office this year: There’s also Alexandra Chandler, who is running as a Democrat for Congress in Massachusetts.“Many thought it unthinkable a viable trans gubernatorial candidate like Christine would emerge so soon,” Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement. “Yet Vermont voters chose Christine not because of her gender identity, but because she is an open and authentic candidate with a long history of service to the state, and who speaks to the issues most important to voters.”Cover: Vermont Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist, holding clipboard, a transgender woman and former electric company executive, shakes hands with her supporters during her election night party in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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