Sheila Kuehl
Kuehl was elected to the California State Assembly in 1994, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. While running for office Kuehl found she was able to offset some negative stereotypes people had about lesbians thanks to their familiarity with her role as Zelda. She told an interviewer "When people know gay people personally, they tend to feel differently about the whole community. And all of a sudden, here's a person that they knew very well that they found out was lesbian."
Seth McKeel
Following the reconfiguration of legislative districts in 2012, McKeel was drawn into the 40th District, which was based entirely in Polk County and included most of metropolitan Lakeland. He won the nomination of his party unopposed and advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by independent candidate Lillian Lima. His opponent largely campaigned on replacing most politicians with fresher faces, while McKeel defended his record, noting, "I ran my first campaign on my vision for my hometown and a deeply rooted belief in limited government and fiscal conservatism. That record is very public, and I am proud of it." Ultimately, McKeel turned away Lima's challenge, winning election to his final term in the legislature with 64% of the vote.