When Erica Deuso goes from door to door in Downingtown, asking her neighbors to make her the first transgender person who was chosen the mayor in Pennsylvania, her identity rarely appears.
Instead, she said, her potential voters talk to her about movement problems and public safety.
Member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party Chester and a member of the management board in several local and state -owned LGBTQ groups, Deuso said that she decided to apply for the mayor to serve her community and maintain a “good spirit of a neighbor.”
But her campaign is historical, and as the administration of President Donald Trump she implements a policy addressed to transgender and non -wealthy Americans, Deuso knows that her candidacy carries a burden of resistance.
“Trump’s rhetoric, generally executive orders made people like me just live our lives. But I refuse that this fear defined this campaign,” Deuso he said. “Some of the best waste is simply visible.”
Deuso, from Vermont, became politically dynamic when Senator Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016 on the platform promising Medicare for everyone. He works in management at a pharmaceutical company and emphasizes his ability to build consensus and reduce costs.
If Deuso won in a competitive democratic basic basis on May 20 and defeats the opponent GOP in November, he would be the first transgender person chosen by the mayor in the community, in accordance with the victory fund who is working on choosing LGBTQ people at the Public Office.
Deuso has no guaranteed path to victory. Her main opponent, Barry Cassidy, gained the respect of many in the business community of the district, directing the program of the main street of the community and in favor of flood problems. But Deuso gained key support from the local Democratic Party and the outgoing mayor.
Kristen Cahoon, the Downingtown Commission, which voted for the support of Deuso, said that Deuso understands well what you need to be mayor and have been preparing for years.
“I think you enter into politics because of your heart, but to be a good strong political leader, you must treat work like business, and Eric does it,” she said.
Historical representation
Proponents of LGBTQ rights in the community say that Deuso candidates are a earnest step forward in the national team, offering an example of incompatible youth and helping normalize transgender people for all society.
“I don’t really have enough words to tell how impact it would be for the LGBTQ+community, and especially transgender and non -wealthy youth,” said Carrie Stare, the president of LGBTQ Equality Alliance in Chester, who plans the annual festivities of the unit.
According to The Victory Research Victory Fund, Victory Victory Institute, in May 2024 there were fewer than 50 officials elected by transgender in the United States and only three in Pennsylvania (all at local level).
Stare said that the Deuso campaign gives the necessary transgender visibility and other non -compliant sexual Americans, a petite but growing subset of the LGBTQ population, whose identity was diminished and slandered by political forces on the right.
Since its inception in January, his administration has tried to limit sex care for transgender people, eliminated the legal recognition of non -fastener Americans, targeted transgender members of the American army, and deprived funds from schools that allow girls and women in sport in sport with their sexual identity.
Often, Trans youth are people taking the burden of political attacks, because executive ordinances are directed in particular to the treatment of transsexual children and teenagers. Sean Williams, vice president of LGBTQ Equality Alliance in Chester, said that for some of those youth who cannot vote and are dependent on parents, “visibility is all that you can really have”.
Deuso, who has been for over a decade, said that she hopes that thanks to her campaign she can serve as a model for juvenile people to see a transgender person leading their own or neighboring local community. She said that in order to see a sturdy transmission of TRY running the community, she would send a sturdy message for children of Trans about their capabilities.
“I didn’t have many designs to follow, because nobody looked like me, nobody had my experience,” she said. “If a young person in Downingtown sees me and thinks:” I can be myself and still be a professional, I still have a good job, I still have all this education “, that is, everything.”
Ultimately, Deuso said, her campaign is not transgender. It’s about being a good neighbor and running a community he calls home. She said that her experience as a transsexual woman would facilitate her better assure her that urban systems would facilitate everyone, especially those who can fall into cracks.
“I want to be known as a good mayor, I want to be known as a good man. I want to be known as a person who does everything. Not only trans. Not only visible,” she said.
Crowded race
In basic, Deuso is against Cassida, Democrat and long -time residents who worked on Downingtown and revitalization efforts for the community throughout the region.
The main winner is the Republican Richard Bryant, a retired expert on cyber security, in common elections in November. In recent years, democrats have had an advantage in the district.
Bryant said that his campaign focuses primarily on issues related to the development, floods and cybersecurity.
“I had some experience in the entire United States with a local, state and federal government,” said Bryant.
The mayor of Downingtown Borough has relatively narrow power. Most legal bodies go to the commune council, but the mayor supervises the Police Department, is a drawing voting regarding the council and has various obligations representing the district.
So far, the competition for the mayor has not focused on the identity of Deuso, but rather on the approach of candidates to the office.
Cassidy focused his campaign on projects that soothe float problems in the district, which was a earnest problem in Downingtown after Ida hurricane in 2021. After hurricane, Cassidy formed the Downingtown Resilience Fund fund, which focused on finding a solution to prevent future catastrophic floods.
In an interview with Inquirer Cassidy, he said that he was looking for the mayor’s office so that he could have more control over the projects for combating floods he had already started.
“I think I would have a larger lever in dealing with some decisions that will have to be taken,” Cassidy said.
A long -term face in the Cassidy district has gained the support of some in the business community that has known him for a long time and respects his work.
Danny Castaldi, a former member of the Democratic Council, who runs the installation company in Downingtown, said he knew Cassidy well, but he has not met Deuso yet. He said Cassidy had a good experience in providing local communities.
“When my children were young, we were the only ones who pushed the prams; now there are young couples everywhere,” said Castaldi, who assigned this change in the main street program run by Cassidy But he stopped supporting the candidate.
Cahoon, a democratic committee, said that the party rejected Cassidy’s candidacy because he had positions that were not in line with the Democratic Party and was too focused on one edition.
She pointed to previous Facebook posts in which Cassidy said that she could not vote for former president Joe Biden, sharing the article about the offer of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For president and other published before entering the mayor’s race, in which he disregarded the importance of transgender identity.
In an interview with Cassidy he said that he still considered himself a democrat, but he was frustrated with what he saw as a suppression of ideas in the party. He compared transgender identities to people who claim that they are a race that they are not.
“I did not spend these comments about her. I tried long before running because I feel like that,” he said on Friday.
For his part, Deuso achieved a broader role for her role in the office, based on the campaign on infrastructure issues such as the flood, as well as improving the Downingtown Center and cooperation with the Police Department in order to emphasize mental health and well -being and reduce the spread of drugs.
“I’m not an expert in everything,” said Deuso. “I am a crazy and bolt person; I listen, do things and build a consensus.”
Phil Dague, the current mayor, supported Deuso before Cassidy entered the race. He said that her passion working on political campaigns and the reasons she causes her care would translate into work in Downingtown.
“He is someone you should count on,” he said.
