7 openly gay lears have served as heads of state. Latvian print Edgars Rkēvičs is the latt

Only 26% of Amerins said they would vote for a gay or lbian ndidate 40 years ago. But as Colorado’s Jared Polis has disvered, is now a non-issue for many voters<br> * openly gay governors *

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected ernor the Uned Stat, on Sunday cried Saturday's “horrific” adly shootg at a Colorado Sprgs LGBTQ nightclub. * openly gay governors *

* openly gay governors *

On the East Coast, Wt Coast and heartland stat between them, LGBT ndidat sred a raft of notable midterm electn victori — wng two ernorships, at least ne seats Congrs, and their first-ever legislative seats Indiana, Kansas and Nebraska. The head of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which recs and assists LGBT ndidat, said many of the wners Tuday's electns were motivated by ncerns over the Tmp admistratn's rollback of protectns for transgenr people. "We've worked hard to achieve the rights we have today," said the fund's CEO, former Hoton Mayor Annise Parker. "But we realize we're still a vulnerable posn many plac." From Parker's perspective, the highlights were many. In Colorado, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis beme the first openly gay man elected as a ernor of any state. In Wisns, Tammy Baldw — who 2012 beme the first openly gay person to w a U.S. Senate seat — easily won re-electn spe beg targeted by outsi nservative groups that spent lns attackg her. In rac for the U.S. hoe, a rerd eight LGBT ndidat won seats for the Democrats. Four cumbents— Mark Takano of California, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, David Cicille of Rho Island and Mark Pon of Wisns — will be joed January by newers Katie Hill of California, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Angie Craig of Mnota and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire. For two other LGBT ndidat, their rac were too close to ll — U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sema's bid for a U.S. Senate seat Arizona and Ga Ortiz Jon' race for a U.S. Hoe seat Texas. Hill, Davids and Craig were among a batch of Democratic wners who flipped ntrol of GOP-held Hoe seats, overg ial skepticism that LGBT ndidat were not bt-sued for that challenge. "We saw LGBTQ ndidat talk openly about their liv to a gree unseen past electns — and ronated wh voters," Parker said. In Mnota, Craig featured her wife and their sons TV ads en route to wng a rematch agast GOP Rep. Jason Lewis the Tw Ci' suburban 2nd District. "What I say is my wife and I have four sons, jt like any other polician would," Craig said durg the mpaign. "It'd be ol to be the first openly gay member of Congrs om Mnota, but that's not why I'm nng." In Kansas' 3rd District, near Kansas Cy, Davids unseated four-term GOP cumbent Kev Yor. Beg lbian was only one aspect of an eye-tchg bgraphy — she's also Native Amerin, a lawyer, a former Whe Hoe fellow, and a past petor mixed martial arts. "From the begng, this mpaign has been built on brgg new lears to the table, and new voic to the table," she said her victory speech. In New Hampshire, Pappas did not strs his LGBT stat durg the mpaign, but reacted wh passn durg a bate when his GOP rival, Eddie Edwards, qutned why Pappas had been photographed wearg a "Rist" T-shirt. "The photo you are referrg to is a rabow shirt I wore at a gay pri event," Pappas said. "I am proud of who I am and I am proud to stand up agast hate, bigotry and tolerance." In Colorado, which was bet by gay-rights ntroversi the past, Polis' succsful mpaign for ernor was strikg that his LGBT stat never beme a mpaign issue. "We went om a state where our elected officials stggled to provi even basic rights to same-sex upl to a state where a gay man ran for ernor and his sexual orientatn wasn't discsed as a polil liabily," The Denver Post wrote an edorial. Kayla DeShon, an pennt voter om the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, said she voted for Polis bee of his stance on health re. "I did not know he is gay. I found out afterward — was an add bon," said DeShon, 29. "And I do thk that don't matter." Polis will jo Oregon's Kate Brown as the only LGBT ernors. Brown, who intifi as bisexual, narrowly won re-electn over Republin Knute Buehler. In state legislative rac, the Victory Fund projects that about 130 LGBT ndidat will w seats — all but two of them Democrats. That would be up om 121 LGBT legislators headg to the electn, acrdg to the fund. Wng a state Senate seat Utah was Derek Kchen, a cy uncilor Salt Lake Cy who rose to promence when his lawsu overturned Utah's ban on gay marriage several years ago. Voters Omaha elected an openly bisexual ndidate, Megan Hunt, to the Nebraska Senate. In New Hampshire, two transgenr women, Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker, won seats the state Hoe of Reprentativ. A third transgenr woman, Brianna Tone, was locked a too-close-to-ll race for the Colorado Hoe. Unofficial near-plete returns showed Tone wh a 12-vote lead after more than 47,000 vot were st. Among LGBT victors elsewhere was Dana Nsel, elected as Michigan's attorney general. Nsel ma headl as -unsel the historic lawsu that led to same-sex marriage Michigan. She said the outgog GOP attorney general, Bill Schuette, "ma a mockery of state ernment" by brgg social scientists to urt to nigrate the parentg skills of same-sex upl. "There are LGBTQ people clamorg for reprentatn and tired of the office of attorney general g them as a punchg bag," Nsel said durg the mpaign. In Massachetts, voters soundly feated an attempted repeal of a 2016 state law extendg nondiscrimatn protectns to transgenr people the e of rtrooms and other public acmodatns. The oute was hailed by Parker, who was mayor of Hoton 2015 when a trans-clive civil-rights ordance was repealed a referendum. Opponents of the ordance played upon public fears wh the slogan, "No Men Women's Bathrooms." Parker said Massachetts voters, havg lived wh the state law for two years, didn't buy such rhetoric. "They realized was pletely ane fear," she said. ___ Associated Prs wrer Jam Anrson Denver ntributed to this report. __ Follow David Crary at * openly gay governors *

As Edgars Rkēvičs be the first openly gay print Latvia’s history, here’s a glimpse at other openly gay heads of state om around the world. * openly gay governors *