LGBTQ candidates in New York City and the surrounding area posted strong performances on election night as Democrats rode a massive blue wave — or “blue-nami” — across the nation, flipping seats from Michigan to Texas.
On a night when Democrats won control of both houses of Congress, out lesbian candidate Cait Conley appeared to defeat incumbent Republican Congressmember Mike Lawler in District 17, which stretches across both sides of the Hudson River north of New York City. While the AP had not called the race by the morning after the election, Conley led Lawler by four percentage points — and Lawler called Conley to concede, saying in a late-night address “it’s going to be pretty clear that we will be short” when all of the votes are counted.
