After two years of serving in the Clinton administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, Roberta Achtenberg stepped down to run for mayor of San Francisco. Achtenberg was well known in San Francisco, having been the first out lesbian on the Board of Supervisors. Given little chance at the outset, she gained considerable support–including Victory Fund’s endorsement—but eventually lost in the primary by a narrow margin. If elected, Achtenberg would have served as San Francisco’s first out LBGTQ+ mayor.

After serving on the city’s Board of Alderman for two years, Michael Nelson launched his campaign for mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina. His victory in the election made history as he became the first out gay person to be elected as mayor of a North Carolina city. He was one of the out elected officials who met with President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1999 during a historic meeting arranged by LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. Nelson served five consecutive terms as mayor, focusing on economic progress and affordable housing in the town. 

“The key for anybody who’s running for office is to talk about and focus on the issues that are important to their constituents,” Nelson said in an interview for the exhibit Out and Elected in the USA. “And if the voters see that you have good ideas, that you care, and that your heart is in the right place, they are going to support anybody.”