The victories of two openly gay school board candidates in Louisiana mark the election of the state’s first two openly gay elected officials. Victory endorsee Thomas Robichaux (right) and Seth Bloom both won their elections to the Orleans Parish School Board.

The wins effectively remove Louisiana from the Victory Fund’s “Horizon State” list — a list of states that lack any elected LGBT representation. That list now includes Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota and South Carolina. The Victory Fund has endorsed candidates in two of those states in 2008 — Greg Kniffen, who seeks a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives, and Linda Ketner, who hopes to represent South Carolina’s first district in the United States Congress.

“Electing an openly gay candidate where one has never been elected before is a sure sign of progress for the LGBT community,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund. “Louisiana now joins 46 other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam in having achieved this important milestone.”

Attorney Thomas Robichaux ran unopposed in his race for the District 7 seat after his opponent was removed from the ballot back in August. Party leaders in Louisiana consider him a rising star in state politics.

Robichaux actively participates in the Louisiana Forum for Equality and hopes to set up a political action committee to further establish a political voice for the LGBT community in Louisiana.

Seth Bloom, a 30-year-old attorney, pulled off a victory against Avis Maria Brock in the parish’s fifth district. Bloom is a Republican, although school board races in Orleans Parish are non-partisan. This is his first time holding elected office.