November 4, 2020
Two Tennessee LGBTQ Candidates, Torrey Harris and Eddie Mannis, Win
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Two out LGBTQ candidates - one Democratic and one Republican - have won their races for the Tennessee state house, Nashville public radio station WPLN reports. They made history in the process by becoming the state legislature's first out LGBTQ members.
"In Memphis, Democrat Torrey Harris, a human resources professional who identifies as bisexual, unseated incumbent Rep. John DeBerry by a wide margin," the news story said. Harris had defeated DeBerry in the primary, when both ran on the Democratic ticket, but DeBerry switched from Democrat to Independent for the general election, the story noted.
"Torrey, a young Black African American man understands the adversities of sexuality, the judgement of ones religious preference, having to go the extra mile because of race, and how age and gender plays a part in fair treatment," text at Harris' campaign website says.
"Meanwhile, Republican Eddie Mannis won an open seat on the GOP ticket in Knoxville," WPLN reported, adding that Mannis "didn't make a big deal of out of his sexuality during the campaign," and that his moderate message "appealed to voters".
Text at Mannis' campaign website emphasizes economic interests, noting that Mannis, a business owner, had weathered the Great Recession and saying he was committed to making a recovery from the current COVID-19-related downturn "as fast and thorough as possible, within the framework of a balanced budget."
The state's voters did not elect a third LGTBQ candidate, however; Brandon Thomas, a Democrat, went up against "incumbent Republican Mike Sparks in Smyrna, but lost by about 8 percentage points," the news story said.
The two candidates' success made history for Tennessee, the LGBTQ Victory Fund noted in a release.
"Tennessee was one of just five states in the nation to have never elected an openly LGBTQ person to its state legislature," the Victory Fund recalled.
Annise Parker, the president and CEO of the Victory Fund, said in the statement that the presence of Harris and Mannis "in the state legislature can dilute the most toxic anti-LGBTQ voices and lead to more inclusive legislation."
