Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE) made history on Nov. 5, becoming the first transgender member elected to Congress, and two weeks later the Democrat made headlines again.

When McBride arrived at the Capitol for freshman orientation, the newly elected member was met by GOP legislation to ban McBride from sharing bathrooms with female colleagues. 

In response, McBride set the tone for the next term: Avoid distractions, not focus on identity, and take the “last line of defense” task seriously.

McBride, 34, took over the seat left vacant by Sen.-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and will be sworn in on Jan. 3. But Republicans, led by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) already successfully enacted new bathroom policies targeted at McBride, causing a stir on Capitol Hill that both parties were looking to move past as quickly as possible.

MEET THE NEW CONGRESS: THE HOUSE AND SENATE FRESHMEN ELECTED TO SERVE NEXT YEAR

The newest member of Delaware’s delegation, however, did not elevate the issue or lash out. After serving four years in the Delaware Senate, McBride said the focus needs to be on delivering for voters.

“I wasn’t serving as the trans state senator,” McBride said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “I wasn’t running to be the trans member of Congress. I was running to be Delaware’s member of Congress, working on all of the issues that matter. I didn’t run on my identity. I ran to make a difference for my state.” 

“I’m incredibly grateful that Delaware voters this past election demonstrated what I have seen throughout my life: which is that they are fair-minded, and in our state of neighbors, they judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities,” McBride continued. 

McBride is entering Congress after an especially contentious election where transgender issues were a major campaign issue. Republicans swept Congress and the White House, due in part to tens of millions of dollars President-elect Donald Trump spent on anti-transgender advertising that painted Vice President Kamala Harris as too extreme. The advertising focus, amounting to about 20% of Trump’s budget, went unanswered by Harris and had an impact on swing state voters. 

McBride entered politics at a young age, finding solace in history books as an “LGBTQ person buried deep in the closet.” In those books, McBride learned about activists and elected officials who dedicated their lives to “bring people from the shadows and the margins into the circle of opportunity.”

Before arriving in the state General Assembly, McBride worked for former Democratic Gov. Jack Markell and the late Attorney General Beau Biden, son of President Joe Biden. Following those roles, McBride served as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. 

While McBride’s personal identity played a role in choosing politics, the decision to run for Congress came after McBride’s late husband was diagnosed with cancer.

“I decided to run for office, not just be an advocate, after the experience serving as the caregiver during my husband’s battle with terminal cancer, and I saw that there is so much more that we can do as a country in supporting people as they face the inevitable challenges of life,” McBride said.

Bathroom ban dismissed as a distraction by McBride

McBride faced challenges before even beginning a term on Capitol Hill. The Delaware representative’s identity as a transgender woman took the focus of much of House GOP leadership last week when Mace introduced a bill to ban McBride from using female bathrooms at the Capitol and all federal buildings. 

“Let me explain it as simply as I can: Men don’t have the right to be in women’s restrooms,” Mace said, adding in some posts that “your mental illness will not become my new reality.”

Mace proceeded to post numerous comments and videos on social media relating to McBride and the bathroom ban, eventually drawing ire from some Republicans who thought the party should be more focused on an ethics report about former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a looming spending fight, and the razor-thin majority the GOP is about to hold come January.

Democrats decried the push from Mace, combined with comments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) “deadnaming,” or using McBride’s biological name, as “bullying” — but numerous House Democrats also told the Washington Examiner that McBride encouraged the party to brush off the incidents as distractions.

When House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released his official position that transgender people would have to use the bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex, McBride did not push back against Mace or the speaker but did note that it was an effort to “distract from the real issues facing this country.”

“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families,” the incoming Delaware representative said in a statement to X.

“Like all members, I will follow the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them,” McBride added.

Many Democrats have praised McBride’s reaction to the “offensive” bathroom proposal, with one House Democrat telling the Washington Examiner that McBride is an “experienced legislator.” 

“She said her hope is that it doesn’t continue to be an issue,” another House Democrat told the Washington Examiner. “She doesn’t want to be seen as a victim.” 

Instead, McBride said top priorities for the new term will be lowering prices for families, whether it be the overall cost of living or healthcare.

McBride desires bipartisan work but will be ‘last line of defense’ against Trump

McBride will be part of a House minority fresh off the 2024 election, where Democrats flipped some seats, but failed to gain power in the House or retain the White House and Senate.

The Delaware new member joined both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the center-left New Democrat Coalition, with the goal to work “across the partisan divide” within the Democratic Party to get things done and serve as the “last line of defense” for the incoming Trump-Vance administration.

With the looming GOP trifecta now on the horizon, some Democrats have resorted to a blame game while others, like McBride, are looking to reflect on what went wrong and how the Democratic Party can appeal to voters in the future.

At the Progressive Caucus welcoming press conference on Nov. 11, McBride said now is the time for Democrats to do some “soul searching” and find “humility.”  

Post-2024 is a “critical moment” for the caucus to find moments of compromise, McBride told the Washington Examiner — not only within the party but across the aisle with Republicans, as well. Despite a hostile welcome from the GOP, McBride said getting to know incoming and incumbent Republican members has been a rewarding experience so far and will be key when the new term starts in January. 

“I’m proud that during my time in the Delaware State Senate, nearly every bill that I introduced passed with bipartisan support,” McBride said. “And what I found there, and what I hope to do here, is that when we are able to work on issues that might fall outside the headlines and don’t trend on social media, that fall outside of sort of the traditional ideological and partisan battles that we see on the news, we’re able to work together, we’re able to make progress, and we’re able to deepen relationships that foster trust.”

Despite being the first transgender member of Congress, that’s not how McBride wants to be viewed on the House floor. McBride’s mission is simply to live up to the words read in a history book all those years ago in Delaware.

“I’m not here to be a spokesperson for a movement or a community other than the people of the state of Delaware,” McBride said. “I’m here to be a voice for all Delawareans. Of course, when that requires me to stand up for my LGBTQ constituents, I will when it calls for me to stand up for retirees in my state. I certainly will when it calls for me to step up for workers and their families. I certainly will.”

“At the end of the day, the only way to guarantee that while I may be a first, I’m not the last, is to quite simply be the best member of Congress that I can be,” McBride added. “So I’m not here to talk about any one set of issues. I’m here to work on everything and to work with everyone.”