Everton Blair is set to make history for LGBTQ+ politicians when he goes to Congress to represent a state in the South. Blair’s election will fill a seat left open by the death of longtime Congressman David Scott. Though Blair’s time in Congress is set to be temporary, it will be a first for the state of Georgia and restore a Democratic representative to the closely divided House of Representatives.

Blair defeats daughter of late Rep. David Scott to serve out Scott’s term

The New York Times reported that Everton Blair Jr. won Tuesday’s runoff to the special election for U.S. representative for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District. The win will send Blair to Congress to serve out the remainder of the term of Rep. David Scott, who died in office in April. Blair defeated Marcye Scott, the deceased congressman’s daughter, in a run-off after neither candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round of the special election to replace Mr. Scott. Tuesday’s victory will send Blair, the former chair of the Gwinnett County School Board in Georgia, to Washington D.C. to finish out Scott’s term, which ends in January. Blair is not running in November’s election, which will decide who occupies the seat for the full term that begins next year; Blair lost the Democratic primary for that race to Georgia State Representative Jasmine Clark. The 13th District, which represents eastern suburbs of Atlanta, is a heavily Democratic district, making Clark the clear frontrunner to win the seat in November.

Breaking new ground for Black and LGBTQ+ representation in Georgia

Blair, who graduated from Harvard and Stanford and served in the Obama administration, made history in 2019 when he came out as gay while serving as a member of the Gwinnett County Board of Education. His announcement made him only the second out gay Black man to serve in statewide office in Georgia and one of only a few openly gay elected officials in the state. Now Blair, who comes from a family of Jamaican immigrants and previously worked as a math teacher before becoming the first Black person to serve on the Gwinnett County Board of Education, will now be the first openly gay man elected to Congress from Georgia. He ran his congressional race as a progressive, receiving backing from Bernie Sanders’ organization Our Revolution and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. He also drew support from Congresswoman Lucy McBath, a prominent gun control advocate.

Democrats fight for control of House of Representatives

Blair’s election fills a Democratic seat in Congress left vacant by Scott’s death at a time when Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Blair will tighten that majority along with fellow Democrat Aisha Wahab, who recently won a special election to fill the U.S. House seat left vacant by Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April amid allegations of multiple assault and misconduct. Two other House seats remain open after the April resignations of Republican Tony Gonzales of Texas after he was alleged to have had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, and Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, who resigned amid federal fraud allegations and recently lost the Democratic primary to regain her seat.

While Clark’s likely election in November will aid Democrats in their hopes of retaking the House of Representatives, Blair’s term in Congress will help ensure that Republicans maintain at most a paper-thin majority in the House for the remainder of this term. His election is the latest milestone for Blair and the state of Georgia and adds another progressive voice to the Democratic Party’s representation in Congress.