Alabama Transgender Candidate Reveals How She Can Win in Republican State

Sylvia Swayne, the 26-year-old transgender Democrat running for the vacant role in Alabama's House district 55, wants to prove to the rest of the country that there is more to the state—a key battleground in the Republicans' culture war on trans rights—than its reputation would suggest.

Montgomery-born Swayne told Newsweek that politics is new territory for her, but is hoping to take the seat once occupied by Democrat Fred Plump after his resignation in May during his first year in office. She is a fresh face to Alabama's politics—and yet she has already achieved something historic in the traditionally conservative state.

She is the first trans woman to run for state office in Alabama and could be the first to be elected should she win the Democratic primaries starting in a month's time and then the special election in January.

Plump left the seat vacant in May after pleading guilty to federal charges—one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

A month later, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey set a date for the special election to replace him for January 9, 2024. The special primary will be held on September 26, while the primary run-off is set for October 24.

Swayne is among the Democrats who are hoping to replace Plump, together with Kenneth Coachman, Travis Hendrix, Ves Marable, Cara McClure, Phyllis E. Oden-Jones and Antwon Bernard Womack.

Raised by a single mother after her father, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, passed when she was only 8, Swayne is new to politics.

"I never saw myself running for office. I majored in English," Swayne told Newsweek. "I worked for the same tech company in downtown Birmingham for five years."

But while politics might not have been her dream career, it is "her calling," Swayne explained. She said that she was inspired to run by her disappointment over a recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that would affect her personally, as well as a number of other bills targeting other groups in the state.

Swayne said that when she announced her campaign, people expected her to get a lot of negative feedback. In reality, she said the response has been mostly positive.

"I think young people are excited that someone their age who shares their values is running for state office in Alabama," she said.

"When I talk to people one-on-one, that's where I thrive the most. Because when you talk to people, it's not about who you are, it's about what you value. And when you take the opportunity to listen to people, their concerns, and the issues facing their community, what they want to see is an elected official trying to fix that." she added.

"I think my identity is such a secondary aspect of my campaign that people don't even necessarily factor it in, unless it's something that they resonate with," Swayne said. "The people I talk to just care about am I going to do the right thing? Am I going to work for the people and work alongside the people and to get the job done?"

Swayne thinks that among the main problems facing Alabama today are the shutdown of hospitals across the state, especially in rural areas, and the redrawing of its congressional district map which she believes disenfranchises voters. She sees the dragging of trans rights into the culture wars and the public debate in America as "forced by a small group of people with special interests."

Despite running in a traditionally conservative state dominated by the GOP—which controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature—Swayne is optimistic about her campaign, stating that there's more to Alabama than its conservative politics.

"I'm running for office to work in Montgomery, and Montgomery is the first capital of the Confederacy, but it's also the birthplace of the civil rights movement," said Swayne.

"When we talk about division [in our country], what we're really talking about is that there is a group of people in the state government who are pushing an agenda to create division, to distract the people of Alabama and even themselves," she continued, adding that it is not the reality of the state.

"Alabama is made up of so many people of different races, genders, religions, backgrounds—and that is Alabama," she said. "You know, that is what I believe. I don't believe in the idea that Alabama is just the thing that people think of when they think of the name Alabama. It's so much more than that."

She added: "We are a group of powerful people. Our state is made up of so much diversity. It's a beautiful state and we just need to demand better from the people who are in power in the government to do better and actually serve the people of Alabama."