Malcolm Kenyatta wins historic race on road to becoming PA's first out statewide official

Malcolm Kenyatta Photo: Malcolm for PA

Out gay Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) won his primary race against Mark Pinsley for the role of auditor general, an administrative position overseeing the state’s accounting and financial functions. Kenyatta’s victory makes him the first out gay man to be selected by a major party for a statewide office in Pennsylvania history.

If Kenyatta wins in the November general election against Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor (the state’s first-ever Black auditor general) Kenyatta would become the first out LGBTQ+ statewide official in the state.

“I am honored to be your nominee and look forward to serving you as the next Auditor General,” Kenyatta said after beating Pinsley by winning over 64% of the vote. “As Auditor, on day one, I will rebuild the Bureau of School Audits and demand accountability from all schools. I will also create the first-ever Bureau of Labor and Worker Protections to take on wage theft, employee misclassification, and union busting. Additionally, I will use the power of the office to measure and support efforts to make communities healthier and safer.”

Kenyatta became the first LGBTQ+ person of color to be elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly when he won his 2018 race at the age of 28 in a landslide victory. After receiving compliments from former President Barack Obama, Kenyatta was one of 17 rising star Democrats to deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention and one of the first three out LGBTQ+ people ever to do so.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenyatta was booed by his peers while talking about fair wages for essential workers. In 2022, Kenyatta lost his bid to become his party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate. That same year, he married his longtime fiancé Dr. Matthew Jordan-Miller.

“As somebody who inhabits all of these intersections, growing up in an incredibly poor neighborhood to a working poor family, as one of only two openly LGBTQ members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the only one that’s a person of color, I see all the different ways that frankly our systems are broken,” he told LGBTQ Nation last year.

In general, Kenyatta thinks the government should work for working families and believes in what he calls a “basic bargain” that says everyone should have access to safe and affordable housing, quality healthcare, a safe education, and clean neighborhoods.

Several LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations praised Kenyatta’s victory on Monday.

“Pennsylvanians trust Malcolm Kenyatta to be their watchdog as auditor general because that’s exactly what he’s been as a legislator,” said Annise Parker, president and CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. “He has the experience to win this race and carry on his fight for students, seniors, and workers as Pennsylvania’s auditor general. LGBTQ+ Americans are severely underrepresented in public office and the numbers are even worse for Black LGBTQ+ representation. I look forward to doing everything I can to mobilize LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians and our allies to get out and vote for Malcolm this November so we can make history.”

Brandon Wolf, National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, said, “Malcolm’s overwhelming victory in this race is a big deal. Not too long ago, the idea that a gay, Black man from Philadelphia would be the nominee for statewide office in Pennsylvania would have been unimaginable. This victory is, first and foremost, a testament to Malcolm’s unflagging work ethic and the fact that Pennsylvanians know he will have their back as Auditor General.”

While Biden and Trump won their primaries in the state, 157,126 Republican voters (representing 16.6% of the vote) voted for Trump’s former political opponent Nikki Haley, and ⁦68,556 Democratic voters (representing 6.9% of the vote) voted for U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-PA). These votes could signal continued intra-party disapproval of Biden’s handling of Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza and Trump’s authoritarian leadership of the Republican party.

The state primary race also saw a progressive, pro-Palestinian U.S. congresswoman beating out her Republican-backed centrist opponent and tens of thousands of voters registering opposition to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), an incumbent member of the progressive U.S. Congressional “squad” of Democratic women of color, defeated Bhavini Patel, a Republican-backed Democratic challenger who slammed Lee for her criticisms of Israel’s attack against Hamas militants and Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Democratic Majority for Israel have both promised to spend big against Squad members for their criticisms of Israel. However, both groups didn’t invest in Patel’s race against Lee because of Patel’s low name recognition, CNN reported.

Originally published here.