Out Mississippi House candidate Fabian
Nelson on Tuesday won his Democratic primary election runoff.
Without a Republican opponent for the
general election, Nelson will go on to represent the House district
in the south Jackson metro area. When he is sworn in, Nelson will
become the state's first-ever openly gay state legislator.
Nelson, a 38-year-old realtor, and
Roshunda Harris-Allen, an education professor, advanced to the runoff
after no candidate received a majority vote in the August 8 primary,
the AP reported.
In an interview Wednesday, Nelson said
that he was “shocked” by the outcome.
“I still think I'm in a dream. I'm
still trying to process it and take it in. It's still shocking to me,
I have to be honest,” he said.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBTQ rights advocate, endorsed Nelson's campaign.
Rob Hill of HRC Mississippi said that
Nelson's win “sends a real message in a time when we are seeing
attacks legislatively and through violence against the LGBTQ+
community that the majority of people reject that kind of animus.”