Joanna Whaley wins Michigan primary, could become first openly transgender lawmaker

Joanna Whaley won the Democratic primary for Michigan House District 2 on Aug. 4 and advanced to the Nov. 3 general election for the Downriver seat, which covers Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale and Southgate in Wayne County.

Whaley defeated Democratic opponents Frank Liberati of Allen Park and Gary Schlack of Allen Park. The district leans Democratic, with one listing putting its 2024 presidential lean at D+1.5, and Whaley enters the Nov. 3 general election favored to hold the seat for Democrats.

Her campaign says, "Michigan is for everyone," and describes District 2 as the hardworking heart of Downriver. Whaley is a former evangelical or megachurch pastor, a hospital chaplain or clinical spiritual care provider, and an LGBTQ rights activist. One profile says she is a transgender woman who survived 15 years of conversion therapy in a high-control religious setting.

Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay elected official in the United States when she won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council on April 2, 1974. Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person elected to Congress in 2024. Earlier this cycle, four transgender women were running for the Michigan House, a group dubbed the Dollhouse.

Allen Park, one of the communities in House District 2, had an estimated 2024 population of 27,925 and was listed as 74.8% White, 13.1% Hispanic, 5.8% Black, 4.8% multiracial, 1.3% Asian and 0.3% Native American or Other.