NEW YORK (AP) The number of openly LGBTQ elected officials in the United States has more than doubled in the past four years and those ranks could soon grow, thanks to a record field of LGBTQ candidates this year, according to new data from an advocacy and research group.

The LGBTQ Victory Institutes Out For America report , released Thursday, tallies 843 openly LGBTQ elected officials across all levels of government at present, up from 417 in June 2016. The institute says a record 850 LGBTQ people are running for office this year, including several candidates with strong chances of entering Congress.

Yet the institutes president, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, says that despite significant progress, LGBTQ people continue to be severely underrepresented in every state and at every level of government.

She said LGBTQ people make up about 4.5% of the U.S. adult population, yet hold only 0.17% of the more than 510,000 elected positions in the U.S., ranging from Congress and state legislatures to city councils and school boards. To achieve proportionate representation, Parker said, LGBTQ people would need to win more than 22,500 additional positions.

The Victory Institute data reveals a striking partisan divide. As of 2018, it counted 438 LGBTQ elected officials affiliated with the Democratic Party and only 16 Republicans . Among the LGBTQ candidates with solid chances of winning in November are several Democratic congressional contenders.

One is Gina Ortiz Jones, an Air Force veteran who nearly beat Republican incumbent Will Hurd in a southwest Texas district two years ago, and now is viewed as an even stronger candidate in the mostly Hispanic district because of Hurds retirement.

Jones, in a telephone interview, said health care is the dominant issue on the minds of many of the districts voters, but on the campaign trial she frequently shares her thoughts on the need for equality for LGBTQ people.