This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
Michigan voters have elected Jeremy Moss to the U.S. House of Representatives, sending the state’s first out LGBTQ+ member to Congress after a legislative career that helped secure explicit civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Michiganders.
The Democratic state senator defeated Republican Ethan Baker in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ, which called the race at 8 p.m. Eastern time as polls closed on Tuesday night before the vote had been tallied.
Moss will succeed Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who left the Oakland County seat to run unsuccessfully for her party’s U.S. Senate nomination.
Related: He could be Michigan’s first out LGBTQ+ member of Congress. He wants Democrats to fight harder
In an October interview with The Advocate, Moss argued that Democrats needed to defend their principles forcefully while doing the work required to persuade people who did not already agree with them.
“First and foremost, I think voters want fighters and not folders,” he said.
His record includes sponsoring Senate legislation that expanded Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the expansion in March 2023, adding explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Moss has pledged to support the Equality Act in Congress. He also rejected arguments that Democrats should retreat from defending transgender people, telling The Advocate that attacks on trans athletes did nothing to address families’ concerns about gas prices or healthcare.
