HRC Blog

2012’s Historic Electoral Victories

December 28, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

All week long, we’ve been telling you about the work HRC has done this year, and how your support has been central to our efforts to strengthen equality in the workplace, improve conditions for LGBT youth, bolster healthcare equality, and ensure loving, committed couples have the right to marry. But it’s also worth remembering the tremendous victories we saw on Election Night last month, and how your continued support made those milestones possible.

HRC undertook the largest mobilization effort in the history of the organization to ensure equality prevailed in 2012. HRC and our energized supporters raised or contributed more than $20 million to re-elect President Obama and to advance marriage equality and other electoral priorities this cycle.

We invested $8 million on efforts to expand marriage equality, particularly in the four ballot states of Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. We activated a dedicated base of volunteer leaders to mobilize our members and supporters around key campaigns, organizing hundreds of fundraisers, scores of canvasses, and thousands of phone banks. We sent nearly 22 million election-related emails and raised more than $1.4 million for HRC-endorsed candidates. We launched an interactive and informative online Election Center where users could learn how to take action for equality. And in the critical final days of the election, HRC President Chad Griffin led a cross-country Get Out the Vote tour, culminating in a telephone town hall with 55,000 of our members and supporters.

This phenomenal and historic investment in equality paid off huge dividends.

President Barack Obama won re-election. Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person elected to the United States Senate. Voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington affirmed marriage equality, while voters in Minnesota rejected anti-LGBT discrimination. And a record number of openly LGB members and allies were elected to Congress.

Your support drove these huge victories in 2012, and 2013 is sure to present new fights – particularly on the marriage equality front. Learn more about how you helped HRC make 2012 a historic year for LGBT equality.