Sarah McBride launches historic bid to become first trans member of Congress

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride launched a historic bid for the state's lone U.S. House seat on Monday, which if successful would make her the first transgender person elected to a federal office.

“It’s clear that diversity in government is necessary for us to not just ensure we have a healthy democracy but also to truly deliver for people,” the Democrat told The News Journal on Monday.

McBride would replace Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who launched her campaign for U.S. Senate in Delaware on Wednesday.

McBride, who bills herself a progressive who likes to "get things done," said a number of key issues — including criminal justice reform, abortion rights, and gun violence — drove her decision to run, according to her campaign site.

As a state senator, McBride led a successful effort to codify universal paid family and medical leave across the state. She also maintains close ties to the Biden family: McBride worked on Beau Biden's 2010 campaign for Delaware attorney general, and later, Joe Biden wrote the forward to her 2018 memoir.

McBride is no stranger to breaking political barriers. She famously became the Obama administration's first out trans intern in 2012, and later served as the Human Rights Campaign’s national press secretary.

McBride was also the first out trans individual to speak at a Democratic National Convention in 2016; led lobbying efforts to enact a landmark nondiscrimination law in the Delaware state Senate; and, in 2021, became the first out trans state senator in the United States.

In her interview with the News Journal, McBride acknowledged the historic nature of her candidacy, but added she is "not running to be a trans member of Congress."

“I’m running to be Delaware’s member of Congress who’s focused on making progress on all of the issues that matter to Delawareans of every background," she said.

McBride, a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., first gained national attention in her time as student body president, when she authored a 2012 op-ed in the student paper, The Eagle, titled "The Real Me," in which she explained her decision to come out as transgender.

McBride wrote that she had long been interested in politics, but had felt her political ambitions and identity were mutually exclusive. “I now know that my dreams and my identity are only mutually exclusive if I don’t try," McBride concluded.