SheWired's Guide to Election Day 2014

Things aren't looking too good for Democrats in the Senate, but there are still plenty of female candidates out to make some firsts, especially LGBT women on the campaign battleground, as well as strong male allies (including the guy who could be the first openly gay governor elected to office). Here are our picks for the races to watch tonight.

Maura Healey, Massachusetts AG

Healey Racks Up Endorsements In Race To Become First Gay AG in U.S.

In September, Maura Healey won the Democratic primary in the state's attorney general race by a landslide, touting her involvement in championing marriage equality in Massachusetts and federally as assistant attorney general. Healey was endorsed by several major organizations and local papers, including the Boston Globe in September, citing her deep legal experience as assistant attorney general. "Healey is not afraid to lead on civil rights issues," the editorial board wrote. "She directed successful efforts to challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. She showed similar passion while bringing the nation’s first civil rights case by a state against subprime mortgage lenders who overcharged minority borrowers." If elected, Healey could be the first openly gay state attorney general in the U.S. — Michelle Garcia
 

Liz Dickinson, Democrat, Kansas House District 30

Is Kansas Ready for a Bisexual State Rep?

Liz Dickinson is hoping to become a different kind of Kansas legislator. The bisexual, married mother of two not only vocally supports LGBT rights (she's a member of Equality Kansas), but her campaign has focused on women's rights and education. She's running against Republican Randy Powell, a staunch social conservative who was hand-picked by the outgoing Rep. Lance Kinzer, who is retiring after nearly 10 years representing Kansas's House District 30. 

TheNew Republic recently called Dickinson the "Most Exciting Underdog in Kansas," noting that the former National Organization for Women lobbyist very nearly defeated Kinzer in 2012, taking 46 percent of the vote from the incumbent. 

Kansas's House District 30, which includes parts of Olathe and neighboring Lenexa (where the 30-year-old Dickinson reside), sits within Johnson County, the state's most populous and, notably, the source of much media attention last month after a state judge ordered county clerks there to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The state Supreme Court eventually stepped in and placed the order on hold, but not before the lesbian couple who filed the lawsuit were legally married at the Johnson County Courthouse — a moment Dickinson captured on camera, as she owns local studio Piper Lucy Photography. — Sunnivie Brydum

Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona

Arizona's Most Secure Democrat Still Faces Uphill Battle To Keep Seat
Going into the election, Congress's only openly bisexual member, Kyrsten Sinema is fighting to retain her seat as Republicans have already amped up their efforts in early voting. While Sinema may be the strongest of the three Arizona Democrats running for reelection to Congress, her Republican opponent Wendy Rogers is ahead by 6 points in early votes, as of Monday morning, the Arizona Republic reports. Sinema, whose district elected President Obama in 2012 by just four points, has had a track record of bipartisan work since her days in the state legislature, which some see as an asset to her campaign, particularly for vulnerable Democrats in Arizona. —Michelle Garcia

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida

Three Republicans Test the Party on Marriage Equality

Lauren Scott, Republican, Nevada State Assembly District 30

Will The Country's First Trans State Lawmaker Be Republican? 

Lauren Scott is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in Operation Desert Storm, held a top-secret security clearance, and proudly touts her expertise with an M-16 rifle on her campaign website's home page. With that experience, it might not be surprising to learn that Scott is the Republican candidate for Nevada Assembly District 30, hoping to unseat freshman Democat Mike Sprinkle. What might be more surprising is that Scott also happens to be a transgender woman. 

Then again, there isn't much that's typical about the 51-year-old Scott, according to a Las Vegas Weekly profile. A self-described "quiet person" who rescues cats, Scott told the local weekly she is "a nerd, I read, [and] I don't go clubhopping." Her campaign website acknowledges that until 2009, she was a registered Democrat.

If she's elected, Scott will not only be the first out trans lawmaker in Nevada, she'll be the first openly trans person elected to state office anywhere in the U.S., according to the Reno Journal-Gazette. 

After transitioning in the 1990s, Scott's trans identity has been an impressive nonissue in her bid for office, perhaps partly because she says she's "over it," according to the Las Vegas Weekly. Scott is "a moderate but politically dynamic candidate whose contradictions can be complementary," reports the local outlet. She handily defeated a more conservative opponent in the Republican primary in June. 

While Scott's campaign website highlights traditional fiscal conservative touchstones like supporting small business, opposing tax increases, and generating employment, she also supports "common-sense solutions that can reduce firearm related accidents, domestic gun-related violence, and suicides." Her website acknowledges that such solutions could include improved access to mental health services and crisis counseling. A strong supporter of new and renewable energy, Scott is also the president and CEO of Alkcon Corporation, a tech corporation that develops methods to convert natural, landfill, and bio-gas into liquid propane. 

Scott currently serves as a commissioner on the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, where she was appointed in 2012 by Gov. Brian Sandoval, who endorsed her bid for state Assembly. She's long been a member of Equality Nevada, the statewide nonprofit that was instrumental in securing the state's improved (and trans-inclusive) hate-crimes law, LGBT-inclusive employment nondiscrimination law, and, as of last month, marriage equality. — Sunnivie Brydum

Sandra Fluke, California state senate

Thrust Into Spotlight, Fluke Has National Attention in State Race

Attorney and civil rights advocate Sandra Fluke's name was put in the national spotlight after she testified before Congress about contraception access at college campus as a Georgetown University law student. It wasn't so much her speech that gained traction, but the reaction from the conservative right, mostly Fox News and most famously, Rush Limbaugh, who called her a "slut" and a "prostitute" for advocating better access to contraception on campuses. Now Fluke is running for California's state senate to represent a large swath of notoriously progressive western Los Angles, a district that includes the City of West Hollywood, a heavily LGBT area. Fluke, who co-founded the New York Statewide Coalition for Fair Access to Family Court, which also assisted LGBTQ Youth and wrote an op-ed for The Advocate last week. She faces Ben Allen, a longtime westside figure who has received a major financial boost from local Republican-turned-independent Bill Bloomfield, who challenged (and nearly beat) now-retiring Henry Waxman in 2012. Bloomfield has spent $1.3 million in independent expenditures on Allen in this election cycle, but has not publicly explained why, since Allen and Fluke are both Democrats. — Michelle Garcia

Shiela Kuehl, Los Angeles supervisor

Child Star Versus Kennedy Kin in West Los Angeles

It may not sound like it, but the Board of Supervisors is one of the most powerful seats in Southern California, and LGBT activist Sheila Kuehl, a former child star is going head to head with Bobby Shriver, a fellow Democrat. The five member board presides over Los Angeles County's 10 million residents, 103,000 public employees, and influences the 88 incorporated cities within the county, and two million people live in the district up for grabs. According to Deadline Hollywood, Shriver leads with the entertainment industry heavyweights, but Kuehl is leading with the fundraising effort. And both say they want to be Hollywood's voice on the board. Kuehl, who is openly gay, has few big-name Hollywood endorsers like Shriver (the former Santa Monica mayor's got Jodie Foster, Renee Zellweger, and JJ Abrams), but she has a long history in politics in both the state assembly and senate. Still, in this tight race, she has raised three times as much as Shriver with $4.7 million in her coffers. This was before she came in first in the June primary earlier this month, with Shriver outspending her. —Michelle Garcia

Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland mayor

Kaplan Moves Up The Ranks

Out Oakland politician Rebecca Kaplan has been a figure in the Bay Area for years, and her race for the city's mayor proves it: while support for her rival Libby Schaaf is rising, Kaplan still retains a strong lead (the only question is voters who were still undecided as of two weeks ago). Kaplan was first elected to the city council in 2008, making her the first out lesbian elected to office in the city. According to Oakland North, Kaplan is among the top spenders in the race, but she has been surpassed by Schaaf, Jean Quan, Dan Sieglel, and Bryan Parker.  — Michelle Garcia

Andrew Cuomo

A Trailblazing Governor Who Some Say Is Still Not Left-Leaning Enough
Some could argue that New York's Andrew Cuomo was the template for other LGBT-friendly governors who wanted to bring marriage equality to their states. In fact, The Advocate did in a 2011 cover story, after Cuomo was part of a united front of bipartisan activists and politicians that raised more than $2 million for the campaign. Three years later, Cuomo is up for reelection, and New York's more liberal base is hungry for more progressive policies, since he has turned out to be a social liberal and fiscal moderate. While he is expected to win against Republican challenger Rob Astorino, the state senate still hangs in the balance.

Cuomo is relying on his appeal toward female voters with running mate Kathy Hulchol, and the formation of the Women's Equality Party, a statewide party headed by Christine Quinn, the openly lesbian former city council speaker. As of Monday night, Cuomo leads Astorino by 22 points, according to polls tracked by Real Clear Politics.—Michelle Garcia