Victory Fund-endorsed candidate Steve Kornell has won his groundbreaking race for a seat on the St. Petersburg City Council.  The first-time candidate is a social worker in local schools and the latest in a growing number of LGBT Floridians seeking local office in a state with virtually no statewide protections for the LGBT community.

Kornell’s candidacy follows by a year that of Kevin Beckner, a Victory Fund candidate who in 2008 won a seat on the Hillsborough County, Fla. Commission, beating an anti-gay incumbent.