Washington voters have elected Jaelynn Scott to represent the state Legislature's 37th District, covering parts of Seattle and Renton, making her the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature anywhere in the country. Scott, who leads the Lavender Rights Project, campaigned on affordability, housing and expanding access to health care, and she says she now plans to take that agenda — along with a fight over a newly passed ballot measure restricting transgender student athletes — directly to Olympia.
According to KNKX, Scott will be the first openly transgender woman elected to the state Legislature. The Washington State Standard reports she will also be the first out Black transgender state lawmaker elected in the country. Vote totals in the race varied slightly by outlet: KING 5 reported Scott leading with 87.44% of the vote in unofficial results as of two days ago, while The 19th put her margin at 88% in a defeat of independent candidate Evon McCorkle, a college student.
Scott described the win in terms of what comes next rather than the milestone itself. “The historic win carries responsibility to the next generation,” she said, per the seed reporting from KING 5. She has said she plans to focus on housing, health care and affordability once she takes office, with the legislative session set to begin in January 2027.
Juvenile Justice Bill and Budget Priorities
Scott has said she intends to address rent stabilization and child care costs and to secure social safety nets through full budget funding. She has also said the state should take a closer look at who pays taxes and who receives tax breaks as a way to better support working families.
Her first bill, she has said, will create a mid-sentence review process for juveniles held in Washington jail facilities — a process that, per Scott, does not currently exist in the state's juvenile justice system.
A Ballot Measure She's Vowed to Undo
Washington voters also approved Initiative 638 this election cycle, a measure that restricts transgender girls from playing on girls' school sports teams. Supporters of the initiative have said it protects fairness in girls' sports and argue that transgender girls can have a competitive advantage. Washington was one of four states — alongside Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska — that voted on similar ballot measures regarding sex-based eligibility requirements for school sports, according to the Washington State Standard's voter guide.
Scott opposes the initiative as discriminatory toward transgender students and has said she plans to fight to undo it once she's in Olympia. A coalition of advocacy groups is separately preparing to mount a legal challenge against the measure, as reported by The Guardian. “If for some reason the legal challenge doesn't work, then in the state legislature we damn sure are going to repeal that law in two years,” Scott told the outlet. The official legislative summary from the Washington State Legislature notes that lawmakers did not act on the initiative during the 2026 regular session, leaving its fate for now in the hands of the courts and, potentially, Scott's future legislative push.
Part of a Broader Wave
Scott's win fits into a wider pattern this election cycle. The 19th reports that six transgender and nonbinary candidates won legislative races in states that had never before elected a transgender person to their legislatures. The outlet also notes that Scott, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, leads the Lavender Rights Project, which it describes as a Black- and trans-led civil rights nonprofit based in Seattle, and that her pitch to voters centered largely on affordability, universal health care and taxing large corporations and billionaires.
Scott's victory over McCorkle was also covered by LGBTQ Nation, which framed her as the nation's first out Black trans state lawmaker. With the legislative session opening in January, Scott's agenda — from juvenile justice reform to a renewed fight over Initiative 638 — will soon move from campaign promise to proposed legislation in Olympia.
