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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Democrat Allison Montgomery will become Alabama’s first transgender legislator after she won the state’s House District 25 on Tuesday night, unseating Republican Phillip Rigsby and persevering in a district President Donald Trump won three times.
Montgomery’s victory came as Democrats had an overwhelming performance in the midterm elections. Democrats flipped control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, as well as several gubernatorial seats, including in Texas and Ohio.
State legislatures also saw Democratic victories on Tuesday night, including Montgomery’s win in House District 25 in northern Alabama. Montgomery won with 53.3 percent of the vote to Rigsby’s 46.7 percent, with 95 percent of the votes tallied. She light-heartedly told Newsweek on Wednesday that she's already "tired of hearing the word 'historic'" when used in reference to her victory.
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"People across the political spectrum seem to be making a big deal out of the trans thing, but that's not why I ran for this seat," Montgomery told Newsweek. "I felt a calling to be a public servant, and now I'm gonna do my best for all of us, regardless of how you voted or what you think of my gender. Because ultimately, I meant what I said in this campaign and I meant what I outlined in my platform—so I'd like to see other folks steer things back to substantive policy discussions, too, just like I've been doing."
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In a victory statement posted to her website on Tuesday night, Montgomery urged people to focus on how a “truly grassroots campaign … has a real shot in Alabama.”
“We the people are tired of attempts to distract us with culture war issues, whether we’re in a minority group or not,” the statement said in part. “We the people know corporate interests use these issues to pit us against one another while they pick our pockets.
“I'm going to work especially hard for those who hate me, because they deserve a better Alabama as much as anyone. And if you don't believe me–just watch.”
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House District 25 falls within Madison County, which Trump won by 9 percentage points in 2024. Trump won the county by 8 points in 2020 and 16 in 2016.
Montgomery ran her campaign on several issues important to Alabama voters, including artificial intelligence data centers, about which she said she “supports a long-term moratorium on large AI data center projects,” and healthcare costs, about which she said she supports Medicaid expansion.
Other issues she addressed in her campaign included conflicts of interest, Huntsville’s hospital monopoly, human trafficking and religious liberty. Montgomery said she is a practicing Christian but believed in the separation of church and state.
In her victory statement, Montgomery said she planned to rest for a few weeks before voicing her plans as a new lawmaker.
“I’ve been careful with my words throughout this campaign, because I know I’ll have to deliver on them later,” she said in her statement. “We can’t rely on lobbyists to hand us policies that will work for the people of this state, so we’re going to have to come together and work collectively for our common good.”
Alabama Congressional Race Breakdown
Republicans won most of Alabama’s congressional races, although Democrat incumbents won reelection in two House races. The breakdown:
Senate: Republican Barry Moore won Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat against Democrat Everett Wess with 54.7 percent of the vote to Wess’ 45.3 percent.
House: Five Republicans won House seats in Alabama and two Democrats won, with six of the seven races seeing incumbents winning reelection.
- First Congressional District: Republican Jerry Carl beat Democrat Clyde Jones for an open seat with 59.1 percent of the vote to Jones’ 40.9 percent.
- Second Congressional District: Democratic incumbent Shomari Figures won reelection against Republican Rhett Marques, 53.8 percent to 46.2 percent.
- Third Congressional District: Republican incumbent Mike Rogers won against Democrat Lee McInnis, 64 percent to 36 percent.
- Fourth Congressional District: Republican incumbent Robert Aderholt won against Democrat Amanda Pusczek, 74.9 percent to 25.1 percent.
- Fifth Congressional District: Republican incumbent Dale Strong won against Democrat Andrew Sneed, 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent.
- Sixth Congressional District: Republican incumbent Gary Palmer won against Democrat Maurice Mercer, 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent.
- Seventh Congressional District: Democratic incumbent Terri Sewell won against Republican Ammie Akin, 69.4 percent to 30.6 percent.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Dave Siminoff.
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