Advocate NL 11/4/26

Hello and Happy Wednesday, folks!Audience Editor Edgar Ramirez, back in your inbox at an unusual time -- but yet again, we are living in unusual times, especially after what transpired on Election Day.While votes are still being counted in some areas, Democrats surged into Republican territory Tuesday night, with LGBTQ+ candidates helping flip congressional seats, New Hampshire electing the first out gay man to the U.S. Senate, Democrats breaking barriers in Texas, and securing another term for the nation’s first transgender member of Congress.Texas delivered one of the night’s sharpest rebukes to Republicans’ anti-trans campaign strategy. After the GOP poured tens of millions into anti-trans television advertising in the state, Democrats flipped both the governorship and a U.S. Senate seat.Democrats also captured Republican Senate seats in South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, expanding their leads in the House and U.S. Senate, setting up a confrontation with President Donald Trump over legislation, judicial confirmations, and congressional investigations.Stay with us as we provide you with more coverage!NEW! Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Advocate Journalism Project to directly support LGBTQ+ journalism. Help us expand our Washington DC bureau to bring you more breaking news from the nation’s capital and fund crucial investigative reporting, compelling video reports, and sustain our 60-year print archive, a history of the queer civil rights movement.Rainbow Wave 2026: See all the LGBTQ+ midterm election winnersPowerful gay House Democrat Robert Garcia wins reelection and delivers a two-word warning: ‘Lawyer up’Chris Pappas makes history as the first out gay man elected to the U.S. SenateAllison Montgomery wins race to become Alabama’s first transgender state lawmakerBisexual Pennsylvania state legislator and disability rights advocate Jessica Benham secures fourth termLongshot JD Ford elected first out gay member of