By Parker Purifoy
Mia Mason has lost her race to unseat U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) in Maryland's 1st congressional district.
The Associated Press called the race for Harris around 11:40 p.m. on Tuesday with under 40 percent of the vote counted. Harris leads Mason by more than 50,000 votes.
Mason, a transgender veteran, would have been the first openly trans person elected to Congress.
Mason lost in a district that includes the Eastern Shore and portions of northern Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties. The district leaned heavily Republican in 2016, with 60 percent of voters casting ballots for President Trump.
"We knew all along that we were running an incredibly hard, uphill battle," Mason told the Washington Blade in a statement. "We are going to see how well we were able to match or beat past matches as we did all of this during a pandemic while being outraised at 1.5 million to 60,000. I'm incredibly proud of my staff and promise that I'm not going anywhere."
Harris remains the only Republican member of Maryland's Congressional delegation. The Human Rights Campaign labeled him as one of the most "anti-equality" House members, saying he has "gone out of his way" to support anti-LGBTQ legislation. Harris in 2020 received a zero out of 100 rating on HRC's congressional scorecard. He has also voted in line with Trump's position in 92 percent of House votes through his career, making him one of the president's most loyal members in Congress.
This article originally appeared in the Washington Blade and is made available in partnership with the National LGBT Media Association.
