In a year when anything can happen, why not Senator Snow?

[Stavros]

Grocery store cashier, once a mormon, now transgendered activist Misty Snow is running for the Senate in Utah. In a year when anything can happen and politics is as unpredictable as sport, she has a good chance too!

From today's Telegraph in the UK (full link below article):

In February, a grocery store cashier in Utah watched as Senator Bernie Sanders celebrated a stunning victory in the New Hampshire presidential primary and felt inspired to enter politics herself.
Four months later, she swept to victory in another Democratic primary - for the United States Senate.
The story would be remarkable under any circumstances. As it happens, it is also historic.
Misty K. Snow, 30, is transgender. Neither of America’s major parties had ever nominated a trans individual for Senate- until now.

Bernie Sanders is right! We must fight to change the minimum wage to $15/hour. #Livingwage #StillSanders https://t.co/BMN9vzzDQo
— Misty K Snow (@MistyKSnow) May 12, 2016

“I was a bit awed,” she told the Telegraph after her landmark victory last week. “I didn’t think it would be me but, I guess, here I am.”
Ms Snow is still adjusting to the spotlight, and reticent to discuss her place in history, but says she hopes “some good comes out of” the attention she is receiving.
"A lot of people say I'm a role model, a lot of people say I'm an inspirational figure. If I can help people's lives by doing this I think that's a good thing."
She was a late entrant into the race, deciding that if no Utah Democrat was willing to run the type of campaign she believed in she would do it herself.



Misty K Snow Credit: Rick Bowmer/AP


"I was hoping that somebody else would step up to carry that mantle of Sanders-style populism but nobody was stepping up in the Senate race so I decided, 'maybe I'll do it', and I had this gut feeling that if I do it it will work out."
When the results came in on Tuesday night they showed Ms Snow far out ahead of Jonathan Swinton, a marriage counsellor who had run as a centrist.
Her success is all the more surprising in Utah, a socially conservative state and the home of the Mormon church. Ms Snow was raised Mormon, but no longer attends church.
She will face Mike Lee, the Republican incumbent and one of the Senate’s most conservative members, in November’s general election.



Mormon tabernacle choir performs in Salt Lake City Credit: Rick Bowmer/AP


Should she triumph, Ms Snow will stand out in the Upper Chamber as much for her profession as for her transgender status.
“Right now the government is disproportionately made up of, you know, business owners, lawyers, bankers, millionaires and people who have never been poor,” she said, deeming the fact that she has had to “scrape by from paycheck to paycheck” an asset.
Ms Snow did not attend college in part because she did not have the necessary funds.
Mr Lee, meanwhile, is the son of Rex E Lee, who served as Solicitor General in the Reagan administration, and was himself a top lawyer before entering politics.
Ms Snow does not hide her disdain for Mr Lee’s policies. “He kind of thinks that government shouldn't be doing anything at all apparently,” she said, noting that “he’s not a very popular incumbent."



Senator Mike Lee Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg


"I think we have an opportunity to beat him, especially this year with the election being as weird as it has,” she said.
Utah has twice bucked the trends of what has undoubtedly been a bizarre election cycle, selecting Mr Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race and rejecting Donald Trump by an overwhelming margin.
Ms Snow says that Utah’s Republicans are “not at all impressed” with Mr Trump, and hopes their lack of enthusiasm could help her pull off an upset victory.
For now she plans to continue to work at the grocery store in Salt Lake City though, she admits, “not as much as I normally would.”
Asked what her friends, family and co-workers think of her sudden political rise she says, “a lot of people say they’re proud of me.”
She does not want to get ahead of herself, but does acknowledge one of the privileges of victory. She would have the opportunity to serve alongside her political idol, Mr Sanders.




http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...ecome-first-t/

[bigkid69]

Isn't there a whole forum dedicated to politics?

[Stavros]

Yes there is, but I think this thread will be of general interest to people who do not get involved in some of the more detailed discussions and arguments that we have there.

[Rusty Eldora]

thanks for posting this. It is more about Transgender women becoming visible and being out in public. In a conservative state, having a woman win the primary is cool by itself, having a transwoman win says a lot more. Although I believe that the current senator Mike Lee will win with 60% it still means that 40% voted for her and accept that she is transgender but still capable of doing the job.

[dreamon]

I doubt she will defeat Mike Lee, as he is extremely popular and doing a good job. There is another transgender woman running this year, also named Misty ironically enough. It is great to see her succeeding.