In a historic first, Alaskans set to elect 3 LGBTQ lawmakers to state Legislature
Democrat Andrew Gray assumed he’d feel relieved after seeing he got more than 50% of the vote — enough to win his race outright, and represent East Anchorage in the state House. But a little over a week later, with more results trickling in and confirming his win, he’s still a little anxious.
“There’s been meetings and phone calls and trying to figure out where I’m going to live. And thinking about staff to hire,” he said. “And all of that has been stressors that I was not expecting and that have continued to prevent me from sleeping well at night.”
While Gray says he’s laser-focused on the issues he campaigned on, his win also notches a big milestone in Alaska politics. He and two other candidates — Jennie Armstrong and Ashley Carrick — are on track to become the first openly LGBTQ Alaskans to serve in the state Legislature in the body’s 60-year history.
But all three candidates, including Gray, say while representation is important, it’s not why they ran.
“That is not a part of my campaign,” Gray said. “I ran on housing and homelessness. I ran on fully funding our schools. I ran on bringing common sense solutions to the problems we have in our community, and it just happens to be that I’m married to a man.”
https://alaskapublic.org/2022/11/18/in-a-historic-first-alaskans-set-to-elect-3-lgbtq-lawmakers-to-state-legislature/
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