The LGBT community in Fort Lauderdale has a lot to celebrate today, as they just elected their first openly-gay mayor!
Dean Trantalis was elected in a major landslide on Tuesday, becoming the mayor-elect with a whopping 64 percent of the vote. He represents district 2 in that area and defeated Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts in the process. He also happens to be Fort Lauderdale's first openly-gay commissioner.
“It was our time,” he told his supporters on Tuesday night. As excited as he is for this historic win, he also said that the “really hard part [of governing] starts now.”
Equality Florida put out a press release to show their support and happiness for Dean's big win.
"As soon as Dean declared his candidacy we knew this would be a horizon race for our LGBTQ community. Equality Florida Action PAC members and supporters have showed up in force in this election. We’ve made tens of thousands of calls to pro-equality voters in the City of Ft. Lauderdale about the importance of voting in this election. We look forward to working with both Dean Trantalis and Steve Glassman as they continue the work to keep Ft. Lauderdale a beacon of inclusion in the South,” said Equality Florida Senior Political Director Joe Saunders.
Steve is another LGBT candidate from District two who also pulled off a win where he beat former city commissioner Tim Smith in another landside vote: 61 percent to 39. This will mark the first time Fort Lauderdale will have two openly-gay elected officials serving at the same time.
Congrats to Dean and Tim on their incredible wins!