Allison Montgomery Elected as Alabama's First Transgender Legislator

Allison Montgomery Flips a 16-Point Republican Seat to Become Alabama’s First Transgender Legislator

Allison Montgomery won 12,456 votes to Phillip Rigsby’s 10,929 — 53.2% to 46.7% — a margin that erased the 16-point victory the Republican incumbent had posted in this same Huntsville-area district just four years earlier, Erin in the Morning reported. The 32-year-old Democrat’s win in Alabama House District 25 on Tuesday made her the state’s first transgender legislator, and it shrank the GOP’s hold on the chamber from 76–29 to 74–31.

That number is the whole story in miniature: a seat Republicans treated as safe enough to win by double digits in 2022 went to a Democrat who campaigned on schools, Medicaid, and wages, in a state where the party in power spent the final weeks attacking her gender identity.

A 16-Point Margin, Erased

District 25 covers the northern Alabama locale around Huntsville, and it had been a Republican fortress for years. Democrats didn’t field a candidate there at all from 2010 to 2018, Erin in the Morning reported, and when Rigsby ran in 2022 he won by 16 points. On Tuesday, Montgomery flipped it by roughly 6.5 points — a swing of more than 22 points in a single cycle. Democrats picked up two seats statewide Tuesday, and hers was one of them.

Trans woman Allison Montgomery wins Alabama House District 25! #midterms2026 #jubilee

The Candidate Who Stayed

Montgomery is a software engineer and transgender rights advocate, and she was born and raised in Huntsville. She is also an Eagle Scout and a devout Episcopalian. While so many trans Americans fled red states, she stayed behind to fight for her home in Appalachia, Erin in the Morning reported. She was outspent by a wide margin and still won.

Outspent and Attacked

Rigsby suggested Montgomery may be unfit for office because of her gender identity, and Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen told reporters that Montgomery and fellow trans candidate Terri Osborne suffer from “mental disorders” because they are trans, Erin in the Morning reported.

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“Republican politicians always point to vague concerns about ‘the children’ when talking about women like myself, while Republican Rep. Brett Easterbrook gets arrested for soliciting sex with a minor,” Montgomery told the Alabama Political Reporter. “I wouldn’t want any of my nieces and nephews going to the State House with him there, and I wouldn’t want them going there with examples like Rep. Rigsby, either.”

Her response was a direct accusation that the GOP’s “protect the children” framing collapses next to its own record.

Policies Over Headlines

Montgomery ran on fortifying public schools, expanding Medicaid, and raising the minimum wage; she also campaigned on cutting corruption and addressing the healthcare crisis. After the results came in, she urged supporters to look past the historic nature of her win.

Alabama elects first out trans legislator as Democrat candidate wins HD25 race — Photo: newsbreak.com

“I know the headlines tomorrow are gonna be provocative and catchy, but let’s focus on the most important part of this victory,” she wrote. “We showed that a truly grassroots campaign that stands on its policies and its principles has a real shot in Alabama … We the people know corporate interests use these issues to pit us against one another while they pick our pockets.”

She closed her statement with a promise aimed at the people who opposed her: “I’m going to work especially hard for those who hate me, because they deserve a better Alabama as much as anyone. And if you don’t believe me — just watch.” She also said, “We can’t rely on lobbyists to hand us policies that will work for the people of this state, so we’re going to have to come together and work collectively for our common good.”

A Bigger Night for LGBTQ Candidates

Montgomery was one of several history-making LGBTQ winners on Tuesday. In Washington, Jaelynn Scott became the first Black, openly transgender woman elected to a state legislature — she is an ordained Buddhist minister. In Michigan, Joanna Whaley became the first out trans woman elected to that state’s legislature; she used to be a pastor at a megachurch. In Georgia, Bentley Hudgins became the first out trans and nonbinary person elected to that General Assembly, Erin in the Morning reported. But the night was not a sweep: in Alabama, geologist Terri Osborne lost her state House race to Republican Danielle Duggar in District 96.

Allison Montgomery has won Alabama's State House District 25 election, flipping the seat from Republican to Democratic. She becomes the first transgender woman to be elected to the Alabama Legislature. pic.twitter.com/rUsmnfhodZ

— https://x.com/PopBase/status/2117874723392749663

The Counterweight in the Same Statehouse

The Democratic pickup also lands in a chamber that has been a national focal point for LGBTQ+ fights. In 2022, Alabama’s only out gay lawmaker at the time, state Rep. Neil Rafferty, pleaded with colleagues to reconsider a bill criminalizing crucial medical care for trans youth. Montgomery’s victory gives that side of the argument a new voice — but Republicans still hold 74 of the 105 seats, and the attacks on Montgomery and Osborne last month show the party’s strategy in this state has not changed.

Asked what comes next, Montgomery told supporters, “I’m gonna take a couple weeks to rest, and then let’s start talking about what I can do for you as your next lawmaker.” She added, “I’ve been careful with my words throughout this campaign, because I know I’ll have to deliver on them later.”