Trans politician Zooey Zephyr trounces GOP opponent as she’s re-elected to Montana state house

Montana Democrat, and the state’s first transgender representative, Zooey Zephyr, has been re-elected.

Missoula representative Zephyr retained her seat, winning 83 per cent of the vote.

Zephyr has become an increasingly prominent voice for LGBTQ+ rights in Montana and across the US. She was famously censured in 2023 over her vocal opposition to an anti-trans law.

She polled 3,370 votes, while Republican candidate Barbara Starmer managed just 703. In a post on X/Twitter Zephyr said she was honoured by the result and vowed to continue her fight for progressive policies in what is known as Big Sky Country.

“I promise to do as I have always done,” she said. “Fight for my constituents, stand up against those who seek to break democracy and be a bulwark against the rising tide of American fascism.”

Her win was one of the few bright spots on a bleak night for Democrats as Donald Trump surged to victory in the presidential election and the Republicans won back control of the US senate and look set for victory in the Us house of representatives. LGBTQ+ candidates also won seats in Iowa and Delaware.

Trump declared a “magnificent victory” from his Florida base in the early hours of Friday morning (6 November), declaring MAGA [make America great again] the “greatest political movement of all time”. By mid-morning in the UK, he had crossed the 270 electoral-college-vote threshold needed to win back the White House and was even ahead – possibly more surprisingly – in the popular vote.

Independent journalist Erin Reed congratulated her fiancée Zephyr in a post, saying she was “so proud of her”, adding: “Many of you will remember her for standing up for trans people in Montana and getting censured and kicked off the house floor.”

Speaking to PinkNews last year, Zephyr declared: “Democracy will not die that easily. There’s a growing frustration with the bills targeting our existence, and that is because more and more people are coming to realise that trans people are in your communities, we’re part of your communities, we’re your friends, your neighbours, your colleagues.

“You’re never far from a trans person, or someone who cares about us deeply.”

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