Julie Johnson has reached plenty of milestones since she first ran for office six years ago.
Now, she has become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from a Southern state. Johnson on Tuesday won the race to replace Colin Allred, who stepped down to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
The North Texas seat represents parts of Collin, Dallas and Denton counties.
Johnson handily beat GOP hopeful Darrell Day, a former Arlington city councilman. In a post to Instagram late Tuesday, she called her win “a testament to the power of collective action.”
“It’s about the countless individuals who fought for equality and inclusion and the belief that our government should reflect the will of its people,” Johnson wrote. “This win belongs to you.”
Johnson has served since 2019 in the Texas House of Representatives, where she was a founding member of the LGBTQ Caucus. As a state lawmaker, she prioritized public health issues like lowering barriers to drug access and targeting potentially dangerous doctors.
Several national LGBTQ rights groups track representation among elected officials and said Johnson was the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from the South.
A spokesperson for Human Rights Campaign said Johnson will take her fight “for civil rights and those most marginalized” from the state’s to the nation’s capital. This and other LGBTQ rights groups marked Johnson’s win as a milestone for queer women, especially in this part of the country.
“The South is often a battleground for LGBTQ+ rights, and in Julie Johnson, we now have one of our own fighting for freedom at the federal level,” said Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, a national group that works to elect LGBTQ women and nonbinary candidates.
Johnson is an attorney who specializes in personal injury and family law. Her wife, Susan Moster, became the first same-sex spouse of a Texas legislator when the two married in 2019.
Also on Tuesday, Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly transgender member of Congress.
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