The Victory Fund creates viability. “It enables LGBTQ people to have a fighting chance at winning elected office.” U.S. REPRESENTATIVE RITCHIE TORRES (NY-15) Above: U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres On the Cover (left to right): Wheeling (WV) City Councilmember Rosemary Ketchum, Rhode Island state Senator Tiara Mack, Florida state Senator Shevrin Jones, Delaware state Senator Marie Pinkney, California Assemblymember Alex Lee, U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (KS-3), Florida state Representative Michelle Rayner, New Mexico state Senator Leo Jaramillo, U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Pennsylvania state Representative Jessica Benham. Victory Fund 2020 Annual Report | 1 A Note From Mayor Annise Parker We began 2020 optimistic it would Yet we do not celebrate these be an unprecedented year for LGBTQ milestones solely because we made candidates and political power, but we history. We celebrate victories because had little idea just how unprecedented these leaders will ensure the interests of the year would be. The crises faced our community are considered in every by our nation and the world wreaked paragraph of every bill that comes havoc on our election plans and the across their desks. campaign strategies of our candidates, upending convention and propelling Many organizations faced enormous us to innovate. I’m proud to say that budget shortfalls and struggled to together, we met the challenge. continue important work. Yet you remained committed—supporting us Despite the tumult, you continued in whatever ways you could—which to support the organization and allowed us to keep providing candidates our mission, allowing us to lead the support from Victory Fund they have our candidates through a rapidly come to expect. You made the Rainbow changed campaign environment. Wave of 2020 happen and I cannot We provided tools and resources for thank you enough. virtual campaigning, hundreds of hours of individualized consulting and Onward, worked with media outlets to secure much-needed visibility. As important, we raised critical dollars and gave direct contributions to candidates as they canceled fundraising events and adjusted for a new fundraising reality. In the end, the unprecedented year we hoped for came to be. We elected more out LGBTQ candidates to office than at any other time in our nation’s history, including our first two out LGBTQ Black members of Congress and Afro-Latinx member of Congress, our first out trans state senator and our first out non- Mayor Annise Parker binary state legislator (in Oklahoma, of President & CEO all places). LGBTQ Victory Fund Victory Fund 2020 Annual Report | 2 AN UNPRECEDENTED YEAR A Larger, More Diverse More than 1,000 LGBTQ people Congressional Delegation ran for office in 2020 and Victory Fund endorsed 390 of them—the most in our 30-year history. Despite unprecedented pandemic-related challenges, more LGBTQ candidates were elected than ever before. U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones (NY-17). Nine LGBTQ candidates won their races for the U.S. Congress—including all seven incumbents—the most ever in an election cycle. Ritchie Torres became the first out LGBTQ Afro-Latinx member of the U.S. House and Mondaire Jones joined him as the first out LGBTQ Black members. The LGBTQ delegation is also the most diverse Delaware state Senator Sarah McBride. ever. Four members are women—including U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Trans and Non-Binary State Sinema—and four are people of color. Legislators Break New Ground America doubled the number of its trans state legislators—from four to eight—and reelected all three incumbents on the ballot. Sarah McBride won her race for the Delaware state Senate, becoming the first out trans state senator in U.S. history. Stephanie Byers won San Diego Mayor a seat in the Kansas state House to become Todd Gloria. the first out trans state legislator of color in the U.S. Taylor Small became the first out Another Big City Mayor trans state legislator in Vermont, and Stacie- Marie Laughton joined two incumbent trans Todd Gloria won his race to become New Hampshire state legislators. Mauree the mayor of San Diego, becoming the Turner also became the first non-binary state first out LGBTQ person and first person legislator in U.S. history, winning in Oklahoma. of color ever elected to the position. Victory Fund 2020 Annual Report | 3 Pete Buttigieg with Victory Women and People of Color Fund President & CEO Mayor Win in State Legislatures Annise Parker. Iowa Delivers Georgia state Senator Kim Jackson. In Iowa, Democratic primary voters Groundbreaking victories for LGBTQ people chose Pete Buttigieg, making him the of color and women increased the diversity first out LGBTQ presidential candidate of state legislatures. Women-identified state to win a state primary. In March, he legislators are now the majority of LGBTQ state suspended his campaign to endorse legislators nationwide—92 of the 178 currently fellow contender Joe Biden. serving—and LGBTQ state legislators of color increased by 33 percent, from 42 to 56. Too Many to Name There were so many history-making First State Legislators in victories we can’t name them all, but Delaware and Tennessee here are a few others: Both Delaware and Kim Jackson became the first out LGBTQ Tennessee elected out LGBTQ state senator in Georgia. state legislators for the first time. Sarah McBride and Shevrin Jones became the first out LGBTQ person elected to the Florida state Senate. Marie Pinkney became the first state senators in Jessica Benham became the first Delaware and Eric Morrison out LGBTQ woman elected to the its first state representative. Pennsylvania state legislature. In Tennessee, both Torrey Tennessee state Harris and Eddie Mannis Representative Tiara Mack became the first out LGBTQ won seats in the state House. Torrey Harris. Black person elected to the Rhode Island state Senate. Michelle Rayner became the first out A New (Lesbian) LGBTQ Black woman elected to the Sheriff in Town Florida state legislature. Two lesbian candidates for sheriff brought Alex Lee became the first out bisexual LGBTQ representation to law enforcement. person elected to the California state legislature. Charmaine McGuffey became the first out sheriff of Hamilton County in Ohio and Rosemary Ketchum became the first out Kristin Graziano the first out sheriff of trans person elected in West Virginia, Charleston County in South Carolina. winning a seat on the Wheeling City Council. Victory Fund 2020 Annual Report | 4 UNPRECEDENTED IMPACT The demand for candidate services was greater than ever—and we were ready to meet it. As the pandemic upended even the most solid campaign strategies, candidates relied on our political experts, fundraising abilities and media and social media reach to propel their candidacies forward. Our candidates Now Hawaii state Representative Adrian Tam speaks also faced more frequent and blatant with our Vice President of Political Programs Sean Meloy anti-LGBTQ attacks than in any recent on our Facebook Live series “Winning 2020.” cycle, requiring our team to lead crisis responses and fight back. And the Black Providing National Visibility Lives Matter movement provided new With candidates desperate to get much opportunities to promote our Black needed exposure in a pandemic-focused candidates and leaders. media environment, we provided national visibility through a “social media first” digital blitz and used our extensive media Fundraising for Candidates relationships to help them secure coverage. With campaign coffers hit by the pandemic, we immediately aimed to 71 51 minimize the shortfall as candidates Candidates Candidate feature adapted their fundraising strategies. interviewed stories or profiles We mobilized our network of financial on our social successfully supporters and held dozens of virtual media pitched fundraisers to ensure our candidates had the dollars to compete—increasing the amount we raised for candidates by 80 Consulting and New Resources percent compared to 2018. As candidates scrambled to adjust campaign strategies, our political $2.19 million team provided more than 220 hours of consulting, advising on digital GOTV efforts, Invested in candidate races virtual fundraisers and messaging on the pandemic and the fight for racial justice. We also launched new resources with strategies to help candidates build effective 80% virtual campaigns. Increase in money raised for candidates (compared to 2018) Candidate 220+ consulting hours Victory Fund 2020 Annual Report | 5 Fighting Anti-LGBTQ Attacks Standing with Black Lives The 2020 election cycle saw more frequent and blatant anti-LGBTQ attacks than in any cycle of the last decade, but we were ready to help our candidates respond. Opponents publicly sensationalized candidates’ dating lives, pushed wild homophobic tropes about pedophilia and drug use, and attacked candidates’ support for trans equality. Of LGBTQ candidates experienced harassment 64% Colorado state Representative Leslie Herod moderated or threats* a conversation with then U.S. Congressional candidates Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres and Maryland state The offenders included behemoths like the Senator Mary Washington about the necessary response to white supremacy and police violence. Republican National Campaign Committee— which invested millions of dollars in anti- As protesters around the country LGBTQ attacks ads targeting our candidates— demanded an end to white supremacy and but also state-based political organizations, police brutality, we stood with the Black