Equality PAC has raised a record $20.7 million during the 2024 election cycle, channeling support to Democrats in competitive House races nationwide.

The political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus is backing 15 openly LGBTQ candidates for the House, including six newcomers and nine incumbents, with the aim of securing the largest-ever LGBTQ presence in Congress. 

Founded a decade ago with modest funds, the PAC has significantly expanded its influence. 

U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who co-chair the PAC, noted the caucus’s evolution into an “unmatched force in LGBTQ politics,” and a more diverse coalition.

“We have not only expanded our caucus, but we have drastically changed its composition from what used to be an all-white, almost all gay male delegation into a strong and diverse coalition that will soon have members from every region of our nation,” Takano and Torres said in a statement. 

A record of six openly LGBTQ women — U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, Washington state Sen. Emily Randall and Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson — are running for the House this election.

Takano and Torres highlighted potential historic firsts: If they win, Johnson would be the first openly LGBTQ representative from the South, Randall would be the first openly queer Latina in Congress, and McBride would become the first transgender person ever elected to federal office.

Although not backed by Equality PAC, Alison Esposito, a House candidate from New York, could make history as the first openly gay Republican woman elected to Congress.

Equality PAC is also supporting candidate Will Rollins (D-Calif.) and former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who were both narrowly defeated in 2022, and Evan Low, a California State Assemblymember who is running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). 

Other incumbents the PAC has endorsed include U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), as well as Takano and Torres. 

Equality PAC has also sent more than $763,000 to pro-equality ally candidates across the nation, with the aim of securing a congressional majority that could advance legislation like the Equality Act, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enshrine protections for LGBTQ people.

According to the Associated Press, former President Donald Trump was handed a victory by Iowa Republicans as he won the Iowa caucuses on Monday and is now poised for a comeback.

Trump’s die-hard supporters turned out Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on a bitterly cold night that Iowa officials described as some of the worst weather for a caucus in half a century, the AP noted.

The former president who was beaten by President Joe Biden in the 2020 elections that led to him facing four criminal cases involving allegations of multiple felonies, is now on track for another shot at the White House.

The Hill reported Trump entered the Hawkeye State’s caucuses with a double-digit lead in polling averages over his closest challenger, as observers noted the former president appeared to be gaining strength in the state and pulling support from evangelical Iowans.

“We’re going to win the Iowa caucuses and then we’re going to crush crooked Joe Biden next November,” Trump told Iowans at a rally last month, weeks out from the caucuses.

Journalist Julia Mueller noted that the focus of the race will now turn to New Hampshire, which will hold its first-in-the-nation Republican primary on Jan. 23.  

There, Haley has been gaining on Trump, and the state could serve as a backstop after her Iowa loss — though the former president still has a substantial edge in the Granite State. 

Strategists have suggested that a Trump win in both Iowa and New Hampshire could seal the deal for the rest of the election cycle, making it nearly impossible for another GOP candidate to catch up before the general.