Nearly an hour into a fundraiser in late May in a tidy gated community outside Palm Springs, the soft-spoken Lisa Middleton, who could become California's first openly transgender state legislator if elected in November, spoke calmly and without fanfare about the historic nature of her campaign.

Over deviled eggs and sweaty lemonade in the desert city where she once served as mayor, she spoke about pedestrian safety, public transportation, college access and climate change, before addressing her gender identity for the first time.

This approach is deliberate. Election Advertising The report, released last week, omitted the Democratic candidate's groundbreaking election results and instead focused on her ability to work with Republicans on issues like improving roads and creating jobs.

“I would never run away from who I am, but what I've tried to do throughout is to make it clear that it's only part of my identity, not all of it,” Middleton told The Times. “And that's not why I'm running for office.”

But identity politics is inevitable in the fierce race to represent California's 19th Senate District, as LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and leading Democrats back Middleton in a bid to retake the long-held Republican seat held by incumbent Sen. Rosilee Ochoa-Bogg (R-Redlands), who is also running as a first-time candidate.

Ochoa Boag, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, has made being the first Republican Latino in the California Senate a key part of her platform since being elected to the state Assembly in 2020, saying Latinos are an overlooked demographic that values ​​”family, faith and work ethic.” Among the state's Latino voters, 16% identify as Republicans, she said. Public Policy Institute of California.

“I didn't feel like my voice was being spoken about as a conservative Latina,” she said. “Some people think Republicans only represent rich people and white people.”

Ochoa Bogg, 52, is a former teacher, real estate agent and Yucaipa school committee member who served on the Senate Education and Housing committees and wrote the bill signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Supporting mental health providers Provide Free admission to the fair For military personnel.

Middleton, 72, is a longtime Palm Springs city council member who previously oversaw a fraud investigation into the California Compensation Insurance Fund. Her campaign platforms include creating more affordable housing and demanding accountability for state spending on issues such as homelessness.

Both candidates have the backing of law enforcement and have pledged to crack down on crime in areas plagued by fentanyl overdoses and human trafficking. Both see themselves as pragmatists and say they're more interested in low-key local issues and reaching out to ordinary voters than political theater.

And both are campaigning to be voices for underrepresented Californians in the State Capitol.

But that seems to be where the similarities between the two end.

Middleton is supporting Kamala Harris in November's presidential election, while Ochoa Bo is supporting Donald Trump. Middleton has made abortion rights a central part of his campaign, while Ochoa Bo received a zero percent rating from Planned Parenthood for his legislative work last year and authored a bill that would require schools to teach about anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, a bill that never made it to the governor's desk.

Palm Springs City Council Member Lisa Middleton will take the podium in July.

(Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times)

For Middleton, who transitioned from male to female 30 years ago and married his wife in 2013, Ocha Bogut's voting record in the state Senate is personal.

The Republican Party Strengthening gender-affirming health services Protect transgender children and their families from being criminalized for receiving medical treatment in California. She has recognized the right to same-sex marriage in the state constitution. LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

One of Ochoa Bo's most passionate speeches on the Senate floor this year came when he took a stand against a law that would ban schools from requiring teachers to inform parents of a student's change in gender identity. Democrats warned that the conservative school board's rule could expose transgender kids who might not be accepted at home, but Ochoa Bo called it “bad policy” and said, “The default assumption should always be that parents are acting in their child's best interest.”

Middleton, who is campaigning in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in an election energized by newly redistricted districts with thousands of registered Democrats, draws stark contrasts between himself and Ocho Bog.

“These lies that are being talked about are lies. I've lived this life and I know that fundamentally,” Middleton said.

Middleton called coming out as transgender “the hardest thing I've ever done,” and said she feels lucky to have been able to maintain her relationship with her children and a successful career while others struggle to find the same acceptance.

“I've struggled with that for a long time,” she says. “Anyone who's ever been in the closet knows what it's like to pretend to be something you're not.”

Ochoa-Borg broke down in tears as she spoke about the suicide rate among transgender people, and said she had “deep compassion and empathy” for the transgender community.

She said her voting record is not anti-LGBTQ+, but she has nuanced reasons for opposing each bill. For example, she said she voted against the same-sex marriage bill because it didn't include an exception to ensure people wouldn't be forced into rituals that their churches don't support. She also has concerns about health care for transgender minors.

“We all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, whatever that may be, as long as it does not infringe on the same rights of others,” Ochoa Bogue said last month at the California Republican Party headquarters in Sacramento. “I would never take anyone's life or their choices lightly. We have a family like that.”

The state senate race is expected to be one of the closest legislative races this election cycle.

In the March primary, Ochoa Bogut won 54% of the vote to Middleton's 46%.

The newly redrawn district combines Republican strongholds of San Bernardino County, including the Inland Empire and parts of the High Desert, with liberal areas of Riverside County including Palm Springs, and is home to more than 500,000 voters.

This was once a right-leaning area. They are almost evenly matched in terms of party support. Thirty-five percent of voters are Republican, 36% are Democrats and the rest are independents or identify with another party. Trump won the district in 2020, narrowly defeating President Biden.

Nearly half of her district's voters are attending Ochoa Bog for the first time, something she called “demoralizing” and said it also motivated her to hold about 50 town hall meetings.

“I'm working very hard on this because I believe in being accountable to my constituents and being as transparent as possible,” she said.

Each candidate is trying to differentiate themselves from the others while making sure their trailblazing role doesn't get in the way.

Pei Te Lien, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in identity politics, said the issue can be difficult for politicians to address.

Lien gave the example of Harris' presidential campaign, which she said strategically has not overemphasized the fact that she could potentially become the first woman and first Asian American president.

“Voters are getting used to that,” Lien said. “The idea that we can embrace people's different identities and backgrounds and still see them as equally capable of representing us and speaking for us and understanding our concerns is certainly progress in terms of politics, good progress.”