2027 set to be most LGBTQ+ Congress ever with at least 17 out members
US Congress (Canva)
The incoming 2027 US Congress is on track to be the most LGBTQ+ in history, with at least 17 out queer members.
As 2026 midterm results continued to come in, the incoming Congress is set to be the most LGBTQ+ Congress ever. There are currently 14 out LGBTQ+ members of Congress. Three are leaving, but at least six are coming in, taking the total to 17.
Which out House members won re-election?
All nine out House members who sought re-election won again: Reps. Becca Balint (D-VT), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Sarah McBride (D-DE), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Emily Randall (D-WA), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Mark Takano (D-CA), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY).
Three sitting House members will not return to Congress next year: Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), after running for the Senate and losing her primary; Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX), after being gerrymandered out of her district; and Rep. Everton Blair (D-GA) won a special election earlier this year, but later lost the primary for the general election.
Who are the new LGBTQ+ winners and what’s still undecided?
Of seven LGBTQ+ people challenging an incumbent or running in an open seat, seven were elected and one is projected to lose (Chris Gallant in New York). There are six winners: Cait Conley (New York), JD Ford (Indiana), JoAnna Mendoza (Arizona), Jeremy Moss (Michigan), Marnie von Wilpert (California) and, most recently announced, Scott Wiener (California).
In the Senate, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was not up for re-election, but current Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) won his election to the Senate. The nonvoting Delegate to the US House of Representatives from the US Virgin Islands will be out lawmaker Janelle Sarauw.
The US Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it sets federal law and budgets. After the 2020 election, a total of 11 openly LGBT+ congresspeople was described as the most in US history, and in 2023, Congress was described as “the queerest its ever been, with 13 LGBTQ+ members of Congress”.
