After becoming the target of an online harassment campaign, a transgender candidate east of Cleveland in Geauga County nearly dropped out of the race for a municipal board seat. But Amy Heutmaker stayed in the race and won, perhaps the first trans person elected in Ohio to do so in a municipal election.
Heutmaker joins Arienne Childrey – who was appointed to the St. Paul City Council. Marys last January – becoming the second transgender person in the state to ever hold a council seat, and joins Dion Manley as the second transgender candidate in the state to win a municipal election.
Russell Township voters cast more than 800 ballots to elect Heutmaker to the township board in the Nov. 4 general election. The 53-year-old licensed mental health counselor wants to address the political divisions plaguing her community.
“It’s a great community,” she said. “Even with the people I met who disagreed with me politically, we were able to have face-to-face conversations.”
If not me, then who?
Heutmaker moved to Russell Township in 2024 from Rochester, New York, to join her wife, who has lived there since 2018. The township is known for its abundance of green space and residential properties, which are typically about an acre in size.
But Heutmaker says there are also many vacant and blighted properties in Russell Township. She emphasized this issue during the campaign, as well as the need for greater transparency of local government and potential property tax relief.
Heutmaker was initially unsure whether she wanted to run, but after becoming involved in local politics and hearing about a board member’s retirement after 50 years in office, she changed her mind.
“It became clear that if not me, who would be the voice [change] locally?” she recalled.
Heutmaker has never pushed her platform towards LGBTQ+ issues – she thought her community wouldn’t support it – but she still wants to see what she can do in her office to support the queer community. In her blogshe wrote about her identity as “a woman who happens to be transgender”, what that means and what she represents in society.
“Don’t let the assholes win”
On the evening of September 9, the Facebook group again sent out a post about Heutmaker’s candidacy for a member of the municipal board. Comments ranged from supportive to vulgar to death threats.
Heutmaker didn’t learn about the post until September 10 – the same day Charlie Kirk was murdered. This reinforced the message of the post and sent Heutmaker into “panic mode,” she said.
She said she had to shut down her social media. She had Russell Township police monitor her home and brought in security for public appearances.
Heutmaker considered withdrawing from the race, but her dad reminded her of her interest in politics since she was a child.
“Amy, don’t even think about it,” Heutmaker recalled saying. “You have wanted to run for office since you were little and you are very interested in politics and civic affairs.
“Don’t let the assholes win.”
After the incident, traffic to her campaign website skyrocketed.
“I couldn’t get that much attention and then my movement grew throughout the election season,” she said.
Refreshed, she wanted to continue running to protect “people who were robbed.”
“Social media algorithms are breaking us,” she said.
“Let’s meet our neighbors”
Heutmaker hopes that with an election victory he will tone down divisive rhetoric and encourage neighbors to disconnect and talk to each other.
“Let’s get to know our neighbors,” she said. “That’s what I built on and people responded to that. Even those who didn’t agree with me, when they saw me in the community, they knew I was approachable.”
He wants to promote more face-to-face conversations because he believes people behave differently once they get to know each other. For example, she believes she has already established a good working relationship with the Republican board member who was just elected alongside her.
Heutmaker said winning election in a conservative city as an LGBTQ+ person was a “surreal” but “humiliating” experience. Her victory – and that of other queer elected officials – are creating governments that better represent the makeup of their communities.
“The LGBTQ+ population continues to grow, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, so we won’t go away,” Heutmaker said. “The reality is that we are underrepresented as elected officials, [and] We are just starting to catch up.” 🔥
START ACTION
- To read The Buckeye Flame’s recap of the November 4 LGBTQ+ official election, click here.
- To register to vote or check your eligibility to vote in Ohio, click here.
- To find the contact information for your Ohio State Representative, click here.
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