Tyler Titus

Transgender candidate Tyler Titus moved one step closer this week to becoming the first openly trans county executive in the U.S. with a victory in the four-way Democratic Primary race for Erie County, Penn., county executive. Titus, president of the Erie School Board, now faces Republican Brenton Davis in the November general election.

Titus, 36, became the first openly transgender person to win any elected office in Pennsylvania when they won their school board race in 2017.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which backed Titus in the race, credited the candidate’s “groundbreaking ad detailing their coming out story, struggles with their identity and their path to public service,” “carefully laid out policy plans addressing everything from increasing broadband access to healthcare reform” and “honesty and transparency [that] resonated with voters” for Titus’ win.

“This win was hard-earned and well-deserved,” Victory Fund’s Vice President of Poltical Programs Sean Meloy said in an email. “We couldn’t be more proud of Tyler — and they worked hard to make it happen. Now it’s on to the general election, where anti-equality forces are already plotting to stop Tyler and preparing to throw every dirty trick in the book at them.”

According to the Victory Fund website, Tyler earned their doctorate in social work in 2020 and now uses “their training, knowledge and experience to advocate for change, elevate voices that oppressive systems to try to silence and engages key stakeholders in creating solutions.”

Titus is married to Shraddha Prabhu, an assistant professor at Edinboro University, and is parent of two children. They are a licensed professional counselor, a trauma-informed leader, public speaker and activist, and they have served on the board for the Crime Victim Center. In addition to being president of Erie City School Board, Titus is co-vice chair for the Pennsylvania Commission of LGBTQ+ Affairs.

— Tammye Nash