HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr is seeking reelection in a race that could allow the transgender lawmaker to return to the House floor nearly two years after she was silenced and sanctioned by her Republican colleagues.
Zephyr, a Democrat, is highly favored to defeat Republican Barbara Starmer in her Democrat-leaning district in the college town of Missoula. Republicans still dominate statewide with control of the governor’s office and a two-thirds majority in the Legislature.
The first-term Democrat was last permitted to speak on the chamber floor in April 2023, when she refused to apologize for saying some lawmakers would have blood on their hands for supporting a ban on gender-affirming medical care for youth.
Before voting to expel Zephyr from the chamber, Republicans called her words hateful and accused her of inciting a protest that brought the session to a temporary standstill. Some even sought to equate the non-violent demonstration with an insurrection.
Her exile technically ended when the 2023 session adjourned, but because the Legislature did not meet this year, she must win reelection to make her long-awaited return to the House floor in 2025.
Zephyr said she hopes the upcoming session will focus less on politicizing transgender lives, including her own, and more on issues that affect a wider swath of Montana residents, such as housing affordability and health care access.
“Missoula is a city that has cared for me throughout the toughest periods of my life. It is a city that I love deeply,” she told The Associated Press. “So, for me, getting a chance to go back in that room and fight for the community that I serve is a joy and a privilege.”
Zephyr's clash with Montana Republicans propelled her into the national spotlight at a time when GOP-led legislatures were considering hundreds of bills to restrict transgender people in sports, schools, health care and other areas of public life.
She has since become a leading voice for transgender rights across the country, helping fight against a torrent of anti-trans rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail from Donald Trump and his allies. Her campaign season has been split between Montana and other states where Democrats are facing competitive races.
Zephyr said she views her case as one of several examples in which powerful Republicans have undermined the core tenets of democracy to silence opposition. She has warned voters that another Trump presidency could further erode democracy on a national level, citing the then-president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump's vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has said he does not think his running mate lost the 2020 election, echoing Trump's false claims that the prior presidential election was stolen from him.
Zephyr's sanction came weeks after Tennessee Republicans expelled Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the Legislature for chanting along with gun control supporters who packed the House gallery in response to a Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three children. Jones and Pearson were later reinstated.
Oklahoma Republicans also censured a nonbinary Democratic colleague after state troopers said the lawmaker blocked them from questioning an activist accused of assaulting a police officer during a protest over legislation banning children from receiving gender-affirming care, such as puberty-blocking drugs and hormones.
Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.
FILE - Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr poses for a photo at the state capitol in Helena, Mont., April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino, File)
FILE - Missoula Rep. Zooey Zephyr, right, and her fiancee Erin Reed, left, wave to supporters during the Missoula Pride Parade, June 17, 2023, in Missoula, Mont. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP, File)
FILE - Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, stands in protest on the House floor as demonstrators are arrested in the House gallery, April 24, 2023, at the state capitol in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
World shares were mixed on Tuesday, with major benchmarks in Asia gaining more than 1%, as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election and other potentially market-rattling events this week.
This week brings bring various potential flashpoints, among them Election Day in the United States. But the results may not be known for some time as officials count all the votes, and the uncertainty could roil markets.
Adding to the potential for volatility, the Federal Reserve will also be meeting on interest rates later this week. The widespread expectation is for it to cut its main interest rate for a second straight time.
The futures for the S&P 500 and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% higher.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX edged 0.1% lower to 19,125.18 while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 7,356.02.
Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 8,179.73.
Share prices surged on Chinese markets as investors anticipated moves by Beijing to boost the world’s second-largest economy during a meeting of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.1% to 21,006.97, while the Shanghai Composite index surged 2.3% to 3,386.99.
Officials are expected to endorse major spending initiatives to boost economic growth amid troubles for the country’s real-estate industry.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the lawmakers had reviewed legislation to raise ceilings on local government debt to replace existing hidden debts, part of a plan announced earlier to arrange debt swaps to help resolve the financial woes brought on by the pandemic and by a collapse in the property market in recent years. So far, no specific amount of funding for such efforts has been announced.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1% to 38,474.90, reopening after a holiday on Monday.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% to 2,576,88 after the country's military said North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, continuing its weapons demonstrations ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.4% to 8,131.80 as the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, remaining near its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.
The hope that’s propelled U.S. stock indexes to records recently is that the U.S. economy can remain resilient and avoid a long-feared recession, in part because of the coming cuts to rates expected from the Fed.
The broad U.S. stock market has historically risen regardless of which party wins the White House. And in 2020, U.S. stocks climbed immediately after Election Day and kept going even after former President Donald Trump refused to concede and challenged the results, creating plenty of uncertainty. A large part of that rally was due to excitement about the potential for a vaccine for COVID-19, which had just shut down the global economy.
A Trump victory would be less of a surprise to markets this time around than in 2016, when Treasury yields soared on expectations for tax cuts that could further inflate the nation’s debt or fuel a stronger U.S economy.
In the oil market early Tuesday, the price for a barrel of U.S. crude gained 27 cents to $71.74. On Monday, it rose 2.8% after Saudi Arabia and other oil producers said they would delay plans to increase the amount of crude they produced.
Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 23 cents to $75.31 per barrel. It rose 2.7% on Monday. The price of Brent is still down for the year so far, in part because of worries about how much demand will come from China given its economic challenges.
In currency dealings, the dollar rose to 152.36 Japanese yen from 152.10 yen. The euro climbed to $1.0886 from $1.0880.
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 shows a broadcast talking about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A currency trader stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
