Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride made history on Tuesday night, becoming the first openly transgender person to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, NBC News projects.
The Democrat won the state’s only House seat, defeating her Republican opponent John Whalen III, a retired police officer and former construction company owner.
McBride, 34, was heavily favored going into Tuesday’s election in the deep-blue state. In September, she easily defeated her Democratic primary opponents with 80% of the vote.
The congresswoman-elect already celebrated her projected win on social media, posting a thank you message to the voters of Delaware on X.
“Thank you, Delaware! Because of your votes and your values, I am proud to be your next member of Congress,” McBride wrote.
“Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that we must be a country that protects reproductive freedom, that guarantees paid leave and affordable child care for all our families, that ensures that housing and health care are available to everyone and that this is a democracy that is big enough for all of us,” she continued.
Thank you, Delaware! Because of your votes and your values, I am proud to be your next member of Congress.
— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 6, 2024
Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that we must be a country that protects reproductive freedom, that guarantees paid leave and affordable child care for all our… pic.twitter.com/QgwRkpUlbD
As NBC News reports, McBride is no stranger to making history. In 2012, she became the first trans woman to work in the White House when she interned for then-President Barack Obama, which she wrote about in her 2018 memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality.”
In 2016, she spoke at the Democratic National Convention and became the first trans person to deliver a speech at a major political convention.








