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Christine Hallquist, the Democratic nominee for Vermont governor in 2018, says Sanders has a solid commitment to LGBTQ people.
Christine Hallquist, the first out transgender person to be a major party's nominee for governor, has endorsed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for president.
"I was the first transgender major party gubernatorial candidate in the nation," Hallquist, the Democratic nominee for Vermont governor in 2018, said in a release from the Sanders campaign. "Bernie stood by me and aggressively supported my campaign. I have known and worked with Bernie for decades on rural development, the environment, and now climate change. He is the most honest and consistent leader I have ever worked with. His commitment to LGBTQ folks has been solid and steadfast. Bernie is the only candidate who has consistently supported policies on economic justice. This is especially important to the transgender community, which suffers from high levels of unemployment, low wages, and lack of health care."
"Christine is a trailblazer," Sanders said in the release. "As long as I've known her, she's been on a mission to expand the use of sustainable energy. I was proud to work with her in Vermont, I was proud to support her gubernatorial campaign in 2018, and I'm very proud to have her support in this race."
Hallquist bested three competitors to win the Democratic nomination for Vermont governor in 2018. She lost the election to incumbent Republican Phil Scott, however, by a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent.
She has spent most of her career in sustainable energy. Before she ran for governor, she was CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative. She held that position when she transitioned in 2015, making her the first business leader in the U.S. to transition while on the job. She took the company from the verge of bankruptcy to financial health and increased its use of renewable energy sources; it was getting 96 percent of its power from renewable sources by the time she left. She is now CEO of Cross Border Power, a Canadian company whose mission is to stop climate change through transformation of the electric grid.
Watch her endorsement video below. She was also feature on a recent episode of the Sanders campaign podcast, Hear the Bern, which is available here.
