Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Salt Lake City Appears To Have Elected Its First Openly Gay Mayor

Jackie Biskupski said she was “deeply humbled” after taking the lead over incumbent Ralph Becker Tuesday night. A prominent LGBT activist also won a city council seat in Utah’s capital.

Rep. Jackie Biskupski looks on during a Salt Lake City Mayor debate with Mayor Ralph Becker at the studios of KUED-TV in Salt Lake City.

Rick Bowmer / AP

Jackie Biskupski took 52.19% of the vote to incumbent Ralph Becker's 47.81%. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Biskupski said she was "deeply humbled by the outpouring of support I have received."

The Salt Lake Tribune declared Biskupski the victor, though as of Tuesday night only about 46% of the votes had been counted and Becker did not concede. Officials will not release final results until Nov. 17.

Still, Biskupski said she was "confident that we will prevail," adding that her next move will be to close down her campaign.

When initial results came in showing Biskupski had taken the lead, the crowd at her campaign headquarters erupted into cheers, according to journalists at the scene.

Biskupski now joins a relatively small group of openly gay U.S. mayors that includes Annise Parker of Houston and Ed Murray of Seattle.


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from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1RRQV5u

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