Dems’ Blue Wave Surges With Chelsea Manning And Over 40 LGBTQ Texans (Video)

On this sacrosanct day on which we celebrate the inimical Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s timeless legacy, it’s normal to reflect on the ways in which Dr. King would be disappointed with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and a Republican Congress that has effectively sold its soul to the billionaire class.

However, Dr. King would likely be pleased with the electoral blue wave sweeping across America.

This November, we experienced a movement to take back control from the GOP.

It’s picking up momentum, turning red states and districts blue, signaling a sea change for next year’s mid-term elections.

In Texas over 40 LGBTQ candidates are officially running approximately twice as many candidates as have ever run during any election cycle in Texas history, according to the Houston LGBTQ publication OutSmart.

Six candidates are incumbents; the rest are first-timers.

At least two are running for governor; others have eyes on Congress.

Some are angling for the state Supreme Court or the Texas Legislature.

OutSmart writes:

Twenty of the LGBTQ candidates are female, and 20 are male. Five are transgender, three are African-American, and eight are Hispanic. Six are incumbents who are among the state’s 18 current LGBTQ elected and appointed officials. 

“All but four of the LGBTQ candidates in Texas are running as Democrats. Kerry Douglas McKennon is running for lieutenant governor as a Libertarian. Republican Shannon McClendon is challenging anti-LGBTQ incumbent state senator Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) in the District 25 Republican primary. Republican Mauro Garza is running for the Congressional District 21 seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio). And New Hope mayor Jess Herbst, the state’s only trans elected official, is seeking re-election in a nonpartisan race.”

The complete list of candidates can be found here.

And in Maryland–Chelsea Manning.

The transgender former Army intelligence analyst convicted of leaking classified documents filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Thursday to take on incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin.

This, of course, invited scathing attacks from pundits, particularly pertaining to Manning’s position regarding Russia and WikiLeaks.

The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald said:

“One of the media’s favorite Russia-obsessed ‘experts’ didn’t even wait an hour before depicting Chelsea Manning’s Senate candidacy as a dastardly Kremlin plot. Also, the second tweet here is full of demonstrable, obvious falsehoods about Manning’s motives & WikiLeaks’ role pic.twitter.com/RYBgUBstAM.”

The Washington Post reports Manning faces a challenging race, calling Cardin “an overwhelming favorite,” noting he “is not considered particularly vulnerable to a challenge from within the state.”

Yet it also notes Manning is “an outside candidate with national name recognition,” and could potentially “tap a network of donors interested in elevating a progressive agenda.”

Image credit: aclu.org

 

Ted Millar is writer and teacher. His work has been featured in myriad literary journals, including Better Than Starbucks, The Broke Bohemian, Straight Forward Poetry, Caesura, Circle Show, Cactus Heart, Third Wednesday, and The Voices Project. He is also a contributor to The Left Place blog on Substack, and Medium.