Trans rights activist Danni Askini has ended her campaign to represent the 43rd District in the Washington State House of Representatives today. Askini, executive director of the Gender Justice League, would have been the first trans person elected to the state legislature and was a clear frontrunner from the day she announced.
In a statement, Askini said she is leaving the campaign to focus on fighting Initiative 1515, which would prevent trans people in Washington from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity.
“I have come to the conclusion that I cannot run the campaign for state representative that this district and my community deserve while also fighting attacks both nationally and across our state on transgender rights,” Askini said.
When Askini announced, she pledged to focus on housing affordability, homelessness, and making higher education more affordable, as well as defending trans rights, which came under attack in the state legislature this year.
The seat in the 43rd, which covers Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, Wallingford, and part of the University District, is being vacated by Rep. Brady Walkinshaw, who’s running for Congress. Several other Democrats have also been campaigning for the seat: Housing advocate Nicole Macri, LGBT advocate Thomas Pitchford, labor activist Marcus Courtney, environmental advocate Sameer Ranade, and lawyer Dan Shih. (Askini may have been the farthest left, having previously supported socialists Kshama Sawant and Jess Spear.)
Askini will donate unspent campaign funds (she raised about $33,000) to Legal Voice, the Pride Foundation and the Transgender Law Center, according to her campaign.
More in NEWS
Local (and not-so-local) news from your favorite writers.
