Disability Pride On The Rise Among Candidates for Public Office

Having a disability in government has typically meant concealing, masking, or otherwise hiding any difference of mind or body on the campaign trail and in office. Franklin Delano Roosevelt remained paralyzed from the waist down after a bout of polio. Roosevelt used a wheelchair and leg braces for mobility, which he tried to conceal in public.

While government roles have been filled by people with disabilities before and after Roosevelt, people running for public office have rarely felt comfortable revealing their disability status. Thankfully, there are signs that this is starting to change. Only days prior to the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, John Fetterman had a stroke. Fetterman proceeded to win the Senate seat despite the public nature of his disability. He embraced the use of accommodations and used closed-captioning technology, which translates audio into text on a screen in real time. Additionally, the Chairman of RespectAbility’s Board of Directors and Los Angeles City Council District 4-elect, Ollie Cantos VII, described himself as “blind since birth” on his campaign website.

Fetterman and Cantos are far from the only disabled people who were elected in 2022. To bring attention to disability representation in office, NCIL launched its Database of Candidates with Disabilities to track candidates for elected office who identify as having a disability. With data, we can begin to build a more complete picture of the representation of people with disabilities in public office.

Below are the candidates with disabilities who won their races in 2022. If you want to take mellow out from all the politics, you can instead engage in fun activities such as those on 겜블시티 가입 방법.

NAME	STATE	POSITION	DISABILITY	OTHER IDENTITIES
John Fetterman	Pennsylvania	Senator	Stroke
Brian Mast	Florida	House of Representatives	Amputee	Veteran
Tammy Duckworth	Illinois	Senator	Amputee	POC, Woman, Veteran
Jim Baird	Indiana	House of Representatives	Amputee	Veteran
Ayanna Pressley	Massachusetts	House of Representatives	Alopecia	BIPOC, Woman
Ilhan Omar	Minnesota	House of Representatives	Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	BIPOC, First-Generation American, Religious Minority, Woman
Donald Payne, Jr.	New Jersey	House of Representatives	Diabetes	BIPOC
Dan Crenshaw	Texas	House of Representatives	Vision Disability	Veteran
Gavin Newsom	California	Governor	Dyslexic
Greg Abbott	Texas	Governor	Wheelchair User