In 2022, Tina Kotek became the first openly lesbian governor (along with Maura Healey of Massachusetts) elected in the United States among a record number of women elected as state executives. Those leaders took the helm at a historic but challenging time in American politics—states were still navigating the collateral damage brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was at a record high, and federal abortion protections were recently dismantled by the United States Supreme Court.
