A Black Trans Man Is Running For The Nevada State Assembly!

The breakthrough victories of Councilmembers Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins in Minneapolis last year have given hope to other Black trans people who have contemplated running for public office they can also successfully run for office and win.

Now comes word that LaDon Henry is seeking to become the first trans masculine person elected to the state legislature in Nevada. 

We have already had a trans feminine person in Nevada attempt to run and win a legislative seat in that state.  Lauren Scott made three runs at a Reno area Nevada legislative seat as a Republican. and became in 2014 the first trans candidate in Nevada to win a party primary.   She was defeated in her last two attempts in the 2014 and 2016 general election cycles to win the District 30 seat.

The 41 year old Army veteran, husband of Shalonda, small business owner and radio host was like many trans people running for office.   Henry was motivated by Trump getting elected president and his well founded fears of what 45 would do to roll back TBLGQ legislative protections.

The first time candidate is running for the District 42 seat in the Las Vegas metro area being vacated by Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams (D), who decided not to seek reelection to a fourth term .

The Clark County district has a 2-1 Democratic registration advantage, and Henry has two challengers in his District 42 Democratic primary in Alexander Aseefa and Kathleen Lauckner

Henry, true to his 'No Voice Left Unheard' campaign slogan,  has stated if he wins, he'll focus on improving Nevada's education system, diversifying the economy, and fighting for underrepresented communities like ex-prisoners, at risk youth and immigrants.

"It wasn't just me being transgender that made me want to run.  There are so many different marginalized communities right now that don't feel like citizens,"said Henry.

Because no Republican filed to run in District 42, the winner of the June 12 primary will become the successor to the retiring Assemblywoman Adams

Henry would also be if he is successful, not only the first out trans person elected to the Nevada state legislature, he would be the first Black trans masculine state legislator.

As of right now Henry hasn't been endorsed by the Nevada Democratic Party or any other political groups, but that may change as we get closer to the June 12 Nevada Primary

Here's hoping that Henry makes history and becomes another Black trans elected official!
 

Run Danielle Run! Another Texas Trans Person Is Running For Office

The record breaking year of Texas TBLGQ people running for public office continues as Danielle Skidmore has decided to run for the Austin City Council's District 9.

The seat is currently held by Austin Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, who is running for reelection and has held the District 9 seat since 2011.

I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle last year as part of the team of trans Texans and allies working hard to kill SB 6.

She has appointed Alicia Roth Weigel as her campaign treasurer, but won't be able to officially file to run for the central Austin city council seat until July 23

Skidmore is an engineer who also serves on Austin's LGBTQ Quality of Life Commission 

If Skidmore is successful in the race this November, she'd become only the second openly trans elected official in the Lone Star State and the first ever in the city of Austin, which has a statewide and national rep as a liberal progressive enclave.

I wish her the best of luck, and I'm eager to see if Danielle gets to make that history later this year.

It's TX Primary Election Day!

It's Texas Primary Election Day!    Unlike early voting where you can go to any early voting center, today you'll have to go to your precinct, and you'll have to get there before 7 PM.

The polls opened a few hours ago at 7 AM.   If you're in line when the polls close at 7 PM, stay in line.   They cannot close the location until all persons in line have voted.

This is the first step to choosing candidates for the general election for governor, lieutenant governor, the state legislature, state judicial seats, and county offices. that happens in November in both the Democratic and Republican Parties.   

If you don't get 51% of the ballots cast in your race, you move on to a runoff election that will take place on May 22.

If you aren't registered to vote, now would be a good time to do that so you can help choose who will be on the ballot this November 6..  The deadline to be registered to vote for the runoff elections is April 5.

Thanks to everyone who has stepped up to the next level of public service and who have offered to run for office.   You are exceptional people just for doing so, and may your runs for office be successful ones.

If they aren't, better luck next time.   Hope you learned some things that will help you if you decided to run again that will help you turn this defeat into political victory the next time.

Good luck everyone and we'll see what transpires in the next several hours.

You'll Have To Wait Until Tuesday To Vote In The Texas Primary

The Early Voting period is now over for the Texas primary elections , but if you missed the opportunity to cast your vote during that period, you have a final opportunity to make your voice heard and weigh in on who should be on the general election ballot on March 6, which is primary  Election Day.

And Texas Democrats are feeling giddy as that day approaches.  There were according to the Texas Secretary of State's office 885, 574 Texans in the Lone Star State's 15 largest counties who participated in early voting  either by mail or in person.   That smashed the record for a non presidential election cycle.

The increase in Democratic turnout is fueling hopes that this may translate to a blue Democratic wave of voting in November.   

That new participation record was powered largely by a huge surge in Democratic voters, who doubled their participation numbers from the dismal 2014 cycle.   465,245 Democrats had voted during the early voting phase vs just 420, 329 Republicans.   Republican turnout was up 15%, but was dwarfed by the 50% increase of Democrats.

The early voting numbers would probably be even higher if the Republicans hadn't cut out the last weekend of early voting before Election Day.

Here's are my TransGriot endorsements to help you out along with the endorsements of other organizations like the Houston GLBT Caucus,  to help you cast an informed Democratic primary vote. 

I'm not a fan of the Republican Party in large part because of the rabod transphobia, anti-woman attitudes and anti-Blackness , and that's why I don't do endorsements for GOP candidates.

These elections will determine who is on the ballot for you to vote for this fall.  so go handle your business.   Make sure you have the YELLOW texas voter registration card with you along with some ID when you go to your regular precinct location to cast your ballot

Polls open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM    If you are in line at 7 PM to vote, DO NOT get out of line. The polling place must stay open until all persons in line have cast their ballots.

Good luck to all my endorsed candidates, and hope you make it to the November ballot.

.

Phillip Aronoff Peddles Transphobia On The TX 29 Campaign Trail

The Texas 29th Congressional District was created in 1991 to ensure that a Latix person got elected to the US Congress.   But due to the Latinx vote being split among several candidates, Gene Green got the Democratic nomination and was elected to the seat in 1992. 

He has been its only congressmember ever since, as has comfortably been reelected in every election cycle since. 

Rep. Green announced in November 2017 that he is retiring and not running for reelection in 2018.
That set off a scramble in both parties for the seat and raised hopes in the Latinx community that they would finally get one of their own people to rep the congressional district that was drawn for them by the Texas Legislature to send one of their own to Congress.

State Sen. Sylvia Garcia is considered the frontrunner to get the nomination on the Democratic side, in a crowded field of seven candidates. 

There are four candidates vying for the Republican nomination, with one of those Republican candidates being Phillip Aronoff.   It's obvious based on his recent Meet The Candidate interview he hasn't gotten the message that transphobia is not a winning campaign issue, even in the Lone Star State.

If Aronoff thinks I'm kidding about that, ask former state representatives Debbie Riddle and Gilbert Pena.  They tried to pass anti-trans legislation in the 2015 session and found themselves  on the outside of the Pink Dome at the start of the 2017 Texas Lege session.

This is what he had to say about transgender people during his interview  and you can see it starting at the 33:20 mark

Phillip Aronoff – Republican US Congressional Candidate District 29 Texas

“I think the whole transgender thing is a fraud. I think that if you’re a man; you’re a man physically. They say that we who think that Global Warming is a fraud don’t believe in science. What could be less believing in science when a man can become a woman. To say that a man can have a baby, can identify as a man and have a baby; I find that absurd, and disingenuous. I mean, how can you change like-you can’t. So, so, so the science deniers are the people who say if you have XY chromosomes, you can still be a woman. That’s not the case. You don’t see that happening in the animal world. So I think that it’s pandering to a group of people who may have I think maybe an emotional problem … overcome it pandering to them. You didn’t expect that answer did you? “

That comment is not only transphobic, it's intersexphobic as well as exposing your ignorance of science to the world.    Ever heard of intersex people?  XY women exist due to transsexuality and an intersex condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome

In the animal world, clownfish are just one of the species that can change their gender orientation.

The anti-intellectualism in the Republican Party has got to be stopped.   

I hope someone other than Aronoff gets the GOP nomination, but if he does manage to walk away with it.  I definitely will be doing my part along with trans folks and our allies who live in the 29th Congressional District to ensure that the Democratic nominee wins this seat.

At this crucial time in our country's history, we don't need a wilfully ignorant transphobe and intersexphobe in Congress.  .

Can Y'all Stop Using Texas As A Political ATM?

Early voting has just started in the Lone Star State in advance of our March 6 primary election, and in Harris County and the other 15 largest counties in the state, first day early voting Democratic turnout is double the rate it was in 2014, while the Republican turnout numbers are slightly below 2014 numbers.

There is enthusiasm in the Texas Democratic Party ranks and among liberal progressive Texans for the first time in a while.   Many Republican held legislative seats that went unopposed in 2014 and 2016 have now drawn Democratic challengers.   There's a competitive Democratic primary in CD 7, currently held by Rep.John Culberson (R) that drew seven quality candidates.

In Harris County, (Houston) lost in the bad news of the Trump upset win was the fact we flipped the most populous county in the state blue, and are eagerly looking to continue the process in this cycle.

The significance of this news is that Harris County provides 25% of the vote total in a statewide race, so if we can get turnout up here, it helps Democrats across the state.

And Texas liberal progressive peeps, after observing what happened in Virginia and Alabama, are fired up and ready to demonstrate we can do the same in the Lone Star State and start flipping Texas blue or at least get it to purple status.

But what that is going to take to make a Blue Texas a reality is money. 

One of the things that has pissed Texas Democrats off for a long time is that Democratic candidates from the rest of the country come to Texas to fundraise and taking money out of our state to spend in other races around the country . 

The problem with that repetitive pattern of using Texas as a political ATM because you assume we can't win here is that it deprives Lone Star State Democratic candidates running for office the funds we need to aggressively take on and beat  entrenched Republican office holders.

Texas is also the linchpin of the Republican Party efforts to cling to power on a national level.   It's why the Texas GOP has spent millions to voter suppress and gerrymander this state so they keep control of it.   According to an AP analysis, in 2016 the Republicans picked up four additional US House seats in Texas they wouldn't have if not for the gerrymandering.

It's also no surprise that a federal judge has decaled the 2011 Texas federal and state legislative maps unconstitutional because they were gleefully drawn by the Texas GOP to suppress African American and Latinx political power 

They are even more desperate to cling to power here in Texas because they know as we do that since 2009, demographics have not been on their side.   There are more non-white Texans than white Texans, and they know that if they didn't suppress or gerrymander the vote, this state would be purple or already well on it's way to becoming the political mirror image of California.

If that happens, the Republicans will be hard pressed to win a presidential contest, much less keep control of the US House of Representatives because they would have to fight for Texas' 38 electoral votes instead of relying on adding the Lone Star State's EV's in their total.

With the 2020 census and reapportionment looming on the horizon that will determine how the political fights of the 2020's shake out, it is incumbent upon us liberal progressive Texans in 2018 and 2020 to do what we can to cut into those Republicans margins in the Texas House and Senate despite the gerrymandered maps and put ourselves in the best possible position for that 2021 redistricting fight. 

We also need to have liberal progressive Texans running for statewide and countywide offices, school boards and judicial benches.   It's a win win for us in Texas and for you nationally if Ted Cruz is no longer patrolling the US Senate and Beto O'Rourke is.

But the critical piece in that effort to flip Texas blue is for the national Democratic Party and other national PAC's to stop treating Texas as a political ATM, fundraising, and taking that money to fund races somewhere else.

We need money for our races, too.   Y'all could also send more money here as well to help us flip Texas in 2018 and 2020 as well.

We'll do the rest of the work necessary to make it happen. 

T- 24 Hours Until Texas Early Voting Starts

Texas yellow 2018-19 voter registration card -CHECK.   Texas drivers license -CHECK.   

Texas primary election early voting starts tomorrow, and as you can tell I am oh so ready to do my part to select the best Democratic candidates available to take the Lone Star State and my country back from the Trumpers hellbent on ruining both. 

Early voting will run from February 20 until March 2.   During this period you can vote at any early voting center location of your choice.   On March 6, the primary election day you must do so on that date at your regular precinct location.

If you need information about where to vote, times the early voting polling places are open, check your county clerk's websites (this is the Harris County one as an example) or the VoteTexas.gov website. 

So make it easy on yourself and handle your voting business during the early voting period at a time and place of your choosing.   And if you aren't sure who to vote for,  these are the folks that TransGriot has endorsed for the primary. 

This is also the sample ballot for you to peruse.

Many political groups from the Houston GLBT caucus to HBAD to the Tejano Democrats and unions have also put out their own endorsement lists, and the Houston Chronicle and other major newspapers across the state have done endorsement sement candidate interviews

If you are unhappy about the current misguided direction this country and the state of Texas is headed in, here's where you start doing your civic duty to change that.   Consider this as a practice run before the main event on November 6

And if you missed the registration deadline to participate in the primary, you still have time to get registered for the critical to our democracy midterm election this NOvember.

So handle your electoral business.

If You're A Black TBLGQ Person, We KNOW TBLGQ Rights Aren't Safe

"Should the self destructive white privilege fueled racist tendencies of white voters prevail on Tuesday, we will be stuck with people who hate us having offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Justice Department gleefully making policy backed by the federal government that rolls back all the human rights games we have made since Stonewall. ".   
-TransGriot, November 4, 2016 

In the wake of the disastrous 2016 election, one of my Black lesbian homegirls told me a story about a conversation she'd had with two white gay men at her job who were gleefully bragging about voting for Trump. 

"He's going to shake this PC crap up," one of them said while the other recited Trump's demonstrably false narrative about the country being 'terrible' under President Obama.

My homegirl then calmly reminded both of the gay Trump supporters they had just voted for the guy who would take away gay marriage.   Upon hearing that comment, their previously gleeful expressions turned to shock and horror. 

"He can't do that, can he?" one of them asked her in a concerned tone.

"He most certainly can, now that you voted for the guy who will put an anti marriage equality justice on the Supreme Court, and has Mike Pence as his vice president egging him on to do it,"
 said my friend

I'm recalling that now year old conversation because I thought about it as I read the Washington Post story by Colleen Curry in which she talked about the epiphany she had that gay rights weren't safe.

Well, if you had talked to any member of the Black, Latinx or Asian TBLGQ community prior to or since the 2016 election, we could have told you that our community's human rights aren't safe based on our people's long tortured human rights history in the US and our people having to constantly fight tooth and nail just to have our humanity and human rights recognized.

As a matter of fact, just four days before the 2016 election I wrote a post that stated in blunt terms that the humanity and human rights of trans people were on the ballot.

There was a clear choice in this 2016 presidential election in terms of who needed to be in the White House if we wanted as a community continued progress on TBLGQ rights issues  But far too many people in this community were more committed to hatin' on Hillary than electing her to become POTUS so that we could have continued our TBLGQ human rights progress.

My people's history is full of stories like the Reconstruction, in which we made fantastic human rights progress after emancipation only to have it wiped out because of an at times violent conservative backlash that erased those gains before the turn of the 20th Century and saw the birth of Jim Crow Segregation.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's (sometimes called the Second Reconstruction by historians) led to African Americans making fantastic human rights gains during that period only to have them steady chipped away or rolled back by conservative Republicans hostile to any progress for Black Americans

Anyone with a grasp of American history and who was paying political attention over the last several decades could have seen this same pattern coming in terms of TBLGQ rights.    Black women, and especially Black trans women saw this coming which is why we were voting at a 94% clip for Clinton and the Democrats to avoid this disaster.

Rights that you gain by executive order and court cases aren't safe and can be easily reversed.   The only way to make them permanent or harder to roll back is to pass them legislatively  To pass them legislatively, you have to have either TBLGQ legislators or allies doing so.

Elections matter.   As long as the Trump misadministration and people hostile to us are in charge in Washington and our state capitols, TBLGQ human rights will always be under attack and we must fight tooth and nail to ensure there's no slippage in our human rights coverage. .

Good to know that some of you in TBLGQ World are finally waking up to that reality

Jess Herbst Is Running For Reelection As New Hope Mayor

One of the people that I got to meet in 2017 was the mayor of New Hope, TX in Jess Herbst.

The first meeting for us happened during one of my trips to Austin to help kill SB 6, and at a barbecue hosted by our mutual friend Danielle Skidmore, we spent nearly two hours chatting with each other about a wide range of subjects, including politics.

We bumped into each other again during the House hearing for another anti-trans bill, and connected once again while I was in Dallas for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.

Even though Jess had an increasing state, national and international profile in our TBLGQ community. her first loyalty was to the people she served back in New Hope.

As their mayor, it was on her and the elected leadership to tackle the issues of a Collin County town experiencing the residual effects of being near the fast growing larger communities in the county of Plano, McKinney and Allen and handling the issues that spring from that like increased traffic. 

Now she's not only running for reelection as New Hope's mayor, she's running for office in the town for the first time as the amazing woman she is.

Her opponent is Angel Hamm, the widow of former mayor Johnny Hamm.   He had served for 22 years before suffering a fatal heart attack on the filing deadline but still beat his opponent by 30 votes in May 2016. . As an elected New Hope alderman serving as the mayor pro tem  she succeeded Hamm to become the first out transgender mayor in Texas.

With the election set for May 5, she has a few busy but interesting months of campaigning ahead of her.   It will ultimately be up to those New Hope voters to decide whether to make Texas election history by keeping Herbst as their mayor or going in a new direction and electing a  new one..

I'm hoping they keep her.

Not Down With Endorsing Chelsea Manning's Run For US Senate

I have been saying for years that trans people need to run for office, and many have answered that call.   In the 2017 cycle we even had several get elected to the Virginia General Assembly, two to the Minneapolis City council, and several others to city councils and a school board across the country.

In my home state of Texas in this 2018 cycle we now have five trans people running for office.  Four are running for the Texas state legislature, and one is running for Congress.

Kim Coco Iwamoto is now running for the Hawaii lieutenant governor's chair.

And sadly, we also have a barely out of federal prison for violations of the Espionage Act Chelsea Manning now deciding she wants to run for office. 

She's primary challenging current US Senator. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland).  Really?   A sitting senator who is a longtime friend to our community in that chamber? 

How do I know that?  When I was lobbying on Capitol Hill back in the late 90's, he was one of the representatives at that time who was ahead of the curve when it came to trans rights issues.

Cardin was also one of the congress members who gave me and other trans advocates participating in the 1999 GenderPac Lobby Day a warning about the backlobbying that had been done to us on Capitol Hill.

While I'm always down for qualified trans people running for office, and it really makes my day when trans people run and win, I'm not ride or die with this Senate race for a few reasons.

*Chelsea is a polarizing figure inside and outside the trans community.  You either think she's a hero or a traitor.  (I lean in the traitor direction)

*She has little chance of beating Ben Cardin 

*Trans vets have a massive dislike of her because they believe her actions almost screwed with our fight to get open trans military service in the US.  Some trans vets I've talked to about her also believe she brought dishonor to the up until that point sterling service reputation of transgender troops in our military

*Senators have access to classified data, and Chelsea, would not be trusted with it after being convicted of handing over nearly 750,000 documents to RussiaLeaks.

And if you think I'm kidding about what the trans vets think about her, here's Shane Ortega's thoughts about Chelsea Manning.

***

WTF 2018, Chelsea Manning cannot be elected to the US Senate! 

It simply boils down to she is not qualified nor mature and tactically patient enough to lead. She has already had the opportunity to serve the nation and failed.

What is that example?   That example of failed leadership is being the poor way in which she chose to be a whistle blower.  She could have used discretion or the chain of command in releasing and reporting her findings and she chose not to do that.  She was held accountable by UCMJ (Universal Court of Military Justice) for that.

Truly loyal service members respect the integrity of the UCMJ and chain of command. They would never release 700,000* classified documents to Wikileaks. They would go to an official news company as they have practice in releasing this type of information.

That did not happen, and because it didn't. Marines and Navy Seals were killed because of it and documents she released were found in the cave with Osama bin Laden. 

Her crime was not being transgender or positive intentions to reveal the the truth. It is the manner and fact of the deplorable zealous way that it was enacted. 

Furthermore her behavior surrounding her gender while imprisoned was also not up to standard.

She used that as an excuse for her behavior and has truly benefited off her white privilege.   No other transgender women who were incarcerated have walked away with $100,000 donated dollars and a book deal pushed by non-profit organizations.

***

Curious as to who put the bug in her ear to primary challenge Cardin.  He was an enthusiastic supporter of  Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, and she overwhelmingly won in Maryland by a 62.5%-33.8% margin.  Cardin has also been a huge critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin

That's one of many questions she needs to answer.  Even if she does, it's not going to change my mind about the fact that I can't support or endorse her in this race.

Because Manning was convicted of an Espionage Act violation, and only had her sentence commuted by President Obama, it's highly unlikely she'd get another clearance.

That means Maryland Dems toying with the idea of voting for her, without that crucial security clearance, she would not be able to see classified documents or sit in briefings, meetings or Senate committee hearings in which classified information is presented.

And no, she hasn't put in the work or time in this community to think she can represent us at the federal level.

24 Seats To A Democratic House Majority

As many of you may or not be aware of, 2018 is an election year in which we will determine the makeup of Congress for the next two years.

This midterm election year is even more critical, because it will also determine what happens during the rest of the Trump Misadministration.

For of you hating the direction of Dear Cheeto Leader's mispresidency , the lack of will by the Republican controlled House and Senate to do anything about it while eagerly passing a tax cut for billionaires and corporations, November 6 is your chance to strike back and #FireTheGOP.

While the Democrats thanks to the Sen. Doug Jones (D) win in Alabama only need to flip two more Senate seats to regain control of the Senate,  they also have the problem of having to defend 26 senate seats while the Republicans have to defend just eight in this 2018 cycle. 

And Al Franken's seat that he resigned from wasn't supposed to be up for reelection until 2020.  That extra  Senate seat being  up for grabs in Minnesota only adds to the Democrats challenge in taking the chamber back from the Republicans. 

In the House, the Democrats political challenge is a lot more doable despite GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression laws in many red states.   What they have to do is flip 24 congressional districts in order to make Rep. Nancy Pelosi  the speaker of the House again.

What's the significance of the Democrats getting control of the House?  If that happens, they can block any bad legislation that Trump wishes to pass.   

And for those of you who want Dear Cheeto Leader impeached, the process starts in the House Judiciary Committee. It's much more likely to happen in  a Democratic controlled House chamber  than the Republican controlled one we have now.

In addition, accountability investigations of the Trump administration that aren't happening now will take place with far more frequency under a Democratically controlled House Congress.

nd yes, if by some miracle they get control of the Senate.   The trial and vote to remove Trump from office happens in the US Senate.   Failing that, they will also in a Democratically controlled Senate will also be able to investigate the Trump Misadministrations.

Can they make that happen?   It depends on what you the voters do this November.   

Important 2018 Texas Election Dates

For you Texans pissed off about the shenanigans, passed and attempts in SB6's case to pass unjust legislation that occured in the GOP controlled Texas legislature, just a friendly TransGriot reminder we're now five days into 2018 , which is an election year. 

What are you going to do about it besides complain?    The Texas GOP, their base voters  and their 1% allies are counting on you to throw up your hands in frustration, assume your votes won't do anything to change the situation, and stay home.

Staying at home is a vote for the status quo.

Our Lone Star State election turnout in 2014 was a pathetic 28.5% and we must do better. 

That turnout  number made Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and his fellow Texas Republicans smile because they hate high voter turnout and know their party wins in low turnout elections. . 

Yes, the Texas voter suppression law had something to do with that but as Alabama prove, you increase turnout, you overwhelm the GOP voter suppression apparatus. 

And frankly, I want to turn this state blue after having to make 8 trips to Austin during the 2017 session to kill SB 6.   I want to deliver some political payback at the polls.  But me and the Texas Black community cant do it by ourselves.    You Texas liberal progressive voters are going to have to do more than just talk in order to turn Texas blue, ,y'all need to show up at the polls and vote!  .

Tthe best way to get revenge on politicians who pissed you off is to make them ex-politicians, not sit at home on Election Day and sulk about the situation.

And it is one of my New Year's resolutions to do my part via TransGriot to help provide you Texas based readers with the information you'll need to cast informed ballots in this 2018 election cycle.

So how about trying a new strategy in 2018?   Voting the GOP bums out of office?   It's past time to pull up the adult underwear of your choice and bumrush the polls on November 5 or during early voting if you wish. 

But the first order of business is to ensure that you are registered to vote in Texas.  You should have received the new Texas voter registration card that will be good until December 31, 2019   If you wish to participate in the party primaries, you have until February 5 to get registered to vote in the Lone Star State. 

You can check your registration status  at VoteTexas.gov

Early voting for the Texas primary elections starts February 20 and runs until March 2/, with primary election day happening on March 6. 

If you miss the February 5 registration date, you still have time until October 9 o get registered for the general election.

Early voting for the November general election will start on October 22, and run until November 2
After that you'll have to wait until November 6 to handle your election business.

Ashlee Preston Is Running For Office!

The list of trans folks running for public office in 2018 just got a little bit longer.

Civil rights activist and journalist Ashlee Preston has announced she is going to run for the California State Assembly for the District 54 seat that was held by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas

The 30 year old Assemblyman abruptly announced on Wednesday he was resigning from the seat and terminating his reelection campaign for it effective immediately because of health reasons.   

Ridley-Thomas is the son of LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and the Morehouse grad  first captured the safely Democratic seat at just 26 years old in a 2013 special election.  He was in the middle of his second full two year term before announcing his resignation.

Ashlee Preston has decided to jump into the race to be the next Assemblyperson from the Los Angeles area district that covers West LA, Mid-City LA and Culver City.

"As someone directly impacted by the issues that often diminish the quality of life, I have an acute understanding of which policies must be put into play in order to move progress forward for the constituents of the 54th District and beyond," said Preston.

"I believe in prioritizing people over politics.  We are more than percentage points; we are real people with real stories.  I fully intend to continue honoring those experiences, and advocating for those who don't have a seat at the table," she added. 

A special election for the remainder of Ridley-Thomas' term will be held soon but as of this writing a date for it hasn't been set.

If Preston is successful in capturing the 54th District seat, she would become the first out Black trans woman elected to a state legislative seat since Althea Garrison did so in 1990.

Best of luck to Ashlee, and hope that she is chosen by the voters of District 54 to represent them in Sacramento and make that history..

TransGriot Update: Preston has decided to suspend her campaign