State Rep. & Openly LGBTQ Rep. Jon Hoadley will likely face anti-LGBTQ incumbent U.S. Rep. Fred Upton
Washington, DC—Earlier this week the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ leaders to public office, endorsed Michigan state Representative Jon Hoadley for U.S. Congress. Hoadley would become the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress from Michigan if elected and would flip a key swing seat for the Democrats. The race for Michigan’s sixth Congressional district is among the most closely watched 2020 Congressional races. The seat is currently held by anti-LGBTQ U.S. Rep. Fred Upton—who opposes federal non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people and voted in favor of constitutional amendments to ban marriage equality.
Victory Fund is the latest in a string of endorsements for Hoadley. Ten labor unions, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist and Attorney General Dana Nessel have endorsed his candidacy. In the first quarter since announcing, Hoadley has raised more money from donors than was raised by Rep. Upton’s previous challenger in all of 2017. Currently, Hoadley has no serious primary opponent.
“For his entire political career, Fred Upton has worked to deny basic rights and protections to LGBTQ people—so it will be poetic justice when he is defeated by an openly gay challenger next November,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund. “Few 2020 Congressional races are more important than this one—a swing seat in a swing state with a stark choice for voters. Jon aims to uplift all constituents and put real people at the center of his decision-making, while Fred Upton continues to play cynical politics with people’s lives and well-being. I am confident voters will help Jon shatter a lavender ceiling on Election Night, not because he is gay, but because of his strong record and commitment to representing all residents of the sixth district.”
Hoadley is Victory Fund’s fourth federal endorsement for the 2020 election cycle, having endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg for President of the United States, Dan Baer for U.S. Senate and Gina Ortiz Jones for U.S. House. In 2018, Victory Fund endorsed a historic number of LGBTQ candidates for Congress. Eight U.S. House candidates and two U.S. Senate candidates won their elections – the most ever.
More information about the candidates is available at victoryfund.org/ourcandidates. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections. To learn more about Rep. Hoadley and to read his bio click here.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Fund works to change the face and voice of America’s politics and achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government.
[From a News Release]
