Bentley Hudgins won the election for State House District 90, making history as the first openly transgender official elected to the State Legislature in Georgia.
Hudgins is a non-binary advocate with years of experience in progressive organizing for issues like voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and labor rights. They won their race on Tuesday night with 92.45% of the vote against Republican Samantha Boston.
LGBTQ+ advocates in Georgia and across the country are celebrating Hudgins’ historic win.
“Bentley’s election is a reminder of the importance of transgender and nonbinary representation,” Jeff Graham, the executive director of Georgia Equality, said. “When the state legislature already spends so much time debating policies impacting transgender and nonbinary people, having a leader with lived experience in the room to speak out is vitally important. But Bentley brings much more than just their identities to this work. As a longtime advocate and organizer, Bentley has already spent years working at the State Capitol and will be coming in as one of the most experienced freshman lawmakers in Georgia’s history.”
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“The folks in Georgia’s 90th District have come to learn what we at HRC have known for years – that Bentley Hudgins is a fierce advocate, an inspiring leader, and a champion of equality,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said. “Bentley, who will become the first trans state legislator elected from the South, will join the Legislature as someone who knows how to make change in a hurry, and that’s good news for all Georgians. We’ll never stop rooting for our former colleague, and we are so excited to continue working with them in their new role.”
Hudgins also makes history as the first Japanese-American to be elected to the Georgia State Legislature. They ran on a platform of providing relief for working families, fighting against attacks from the GOP, and protecting the right to vote.
Bella Bautista, another transgender candidate running for the State House in the majority-Republican Bartow County, lost her race to Mitchell Scoggins.
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