By Dylan Matthews
Matt Stoller reports that Jared Polis has just won the Democratic primary for Colorado's second district House seat. The district has a Cook Rating of D+8, hasn't had a Republican representative since Watergate, and reelected Mark Udall (who's retiring to run for the Senate) by a 40-point margin in 2006, so Polis can probably count on winning the general election and being inaugurated in January.
What's notable about Polis' victory is that while five representatives - former Reps. Gerry Studds (D-MA), Steve Gunderson (R-WI), and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and current Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) - have been openly gay while in office, only one, Baldwin, was out upon her initial election. This means Polis would be the first gay male non-incumbent to be elected to Congress should he win this November.
It's depressing that it took until 2008 to pass that milestone, and three representatives out of 435 (0.7%) is still disproportionately low compared to the American gay, lesbian, and bi population (4.1% of the population according to the CDC). And let's not forget that no transgender person has been elected to a state legislature, much less Congress, no out LGBT person has been elected to the Senate or a major mayoralty (though Christine Quinn may change the latter), and the only LGBT governor outed himself as he announced his resignation.
But for now, let's focus on the progress Polis' victory represents. It's only a first step, but the fact that could win, that his sexuality wasn't a major issue in the campaign, and that Tim Gill, the biggest gay political fundraiser in the United States, felt free to endorse one of Polis' straight opponents, are all good signs. They suggest that, little by little, candidates' sexual orientation is becoming irrelevant in the minds of voters, as well it should be.
