Althea Garrison (born October 7, 1940)[1] is an independent American politician from Boston, Massachusetts and Boston City Councilor At Large. She was elected as a Republican to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1992 and served one term from 1993 to 1995. Both before and after Garrison's successful bid for office, she has run unsuccessfully in multiple elections for the state legislature and Boston City Council, as a Republican, Democrat, or independent, which has resulted in her being described in the media as a "perennial candidate".[2][3] Garrison is also known as the first transgender person to be elected to a state legislature in the United States.[4][5] Garrison is currently an at-large member of the Boston City Council after she was offered the position due to a vacancy left by Ayanna Pressley's election to congress. Because she was the next-place finisher in the 2017 Boston City Council election, she was eligible to take office due to City Council rules.[6]