Christine Hallquist Loses Race to Become First Trans Governor

Christine Hallquist has lost her bid to become the nation's first openly transgender governor.

In the Vermont gubernatorial race, Hallquist, a Democrat, lost to Republican incumbent Phil Scott. She conceded the race at 10:18 p.m. local time, the Burlington Free Press reports. The Associated Press showed Scott with 55 percent of the vote and Hallquist with 41 percent, with 78 percent of precincts reporting.

Scott has apparently proved himself just moderate enough for liberal Vermont, despite the Vermont Democratic Party's assertion during the campaign that "there is no such thing as a moderate Republican." He did sign into law a bill mandating that all single-user public restrooms in the state be marked as gender-neutral.

Hallquist is the former CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative, where she became the first U.S. business leader to transition on the job. She campaigned on a platform of addressing rural poverty, raising the minimum wage, expanding health care, and promoting clean energy. Scott highlighted his refusal to raise taxes.

"The most important measure of a state is not how the wealthy are doing, it's how the poorest people are doing," Hallquist told The Advocate during the campaign. "[Scott's] measure is about how the wealthy are doing."