This past week, Misty Snow, the first transgender candidate for U.S. Senate, threw her hat in the ring for a 2018 U.S. House of Representatives race. The transgender Democrat has virtually no chance whatsoever in the deep-red state, but perhaps that is not the point.
As The Hill reported, Snow “made headlines last year” despite her fantastically meager showing in the U.S. Senate race against Mike Lee. Lee wallopped her last November, taking 68.15 percent to her 27.06 percent. When Lee took the seat in 2010, he only took 61 percent to Democrat Sam Granato’s 32.8 percent. Snow lost her party 5 percent of the vote, and now she’s targeting a congressional seat she may lose even more spectacularly. And yes, she chose even the last name “Snow” — her mother’s name is Linda Pace.
“Last year, with your support, I was able to make history as the first woman to run for US Senate in the state of Utah and the first trans* person to run for US Senate anywhere in the country,” Snow declared in a statement on Twitter. “I learned much from that campaign … and am officially announcing my candidacy for congress [sic] in Utah’s 2nd district.”
In her announcement, Snow declared, “I cannot stand idly by while our government turns it’s [sic] back on it’s [sic] citizens.” She argued that “over the last few months we have seen our government show nothing but hostility towards people of color and the LGBT community; while, at the same time, eviscerating programs and protections that help women, working people, and the poor.”
The transgender candidate argued that “if people show up, we can win” the 2nd district congressional race, because in 2016, the Democratic candidate received 93,760 votes, and the Republican (Congressman Chris Stewart) only got 88,915 votes in 2014.
But in 2016, when Democrat Charlene Albarran won more votes than Stewart took in 2014, Stewart won 170,524 votes. He actually won the 2016 election by 61.6 percent against Albarran’s 33.9 percent. In 2014, by contrast, Stewart only took 60.9 percent to Democrat Luz Robles’ 32.6 percent.
Yes, if Snow can bring out all of Albarran’s votes and — by some Democratic miracle — Stewart only wins the votes he took in 2014, she will win. But Utah is still Utah, and Stewart has won the seat by almost 30 points in both races.
To make matters worse, Snow is a very liberal Democrat. Her campaign platform mimicked that of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (whom she endorsed), who is too liberal for the Democratic Party, except when it came to running for president. Snow calls for a $15 minimum wage, according to The Hill.
Snow’s own announcement suggests an utter rejection of President Trump and Republican governance, declaring that under the new president the “rights of working people, of women, of people of color, of the LGBT community, and the rights of sovereign Native tribes” have fallen under attack.
Here’s her announcement:
I have officially announced that I will be running for congress in Utah's 2nd district. #UTPol #FliptheHouse #SnowStorm #Utah #UT02 #Vote pic.twitter.com/1ugceoJmR1
— Misty K Snow (@MistyKSnow) April 13, 2017
This argument may do well in Vermont, in parts of California, and other liberal bastions. But in Utah, in the second congressional district? Snow in Utah is going to be just as successful as literal snow in Florida.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member