(Washington) A national organization that helps LGBT candidates get elected is endorsing 100 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political candidates in 2008.

LGBT candidates are running for offices at all levels of government, from school boards to the U.S. Congress, according to the group.

Chuck Wolfe, the Victory Fund’s president said the surge in openly LGBT candidates in 2008 reflects the community’s growing willingness to embrace political leadership as a path to change: 

“I think reaching this milestone is a testament to a new attitude in our community about how to achieve political change,” said Wolfe in a statement to the media.  ” We don’t have to accept sitting on the sidelines and hoping others will do the heavy lifting.  We can roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.”

And more endorsements are expected.

“We’ll endorse in even more races in the next couple of weeks,” Laura Esquivel, senior vice president for political affairs said.

The Victory Fund is the nation’s largest LGBT political action committee, and the only national organization dedicated to increasing the number of out elected officials at all levels of government.

Since its founding in 1991, the number of openly LGBT elected officials in the U.S. has grown from less than 50 to more than 420.

This year several Victory-endorsed candidates have already won their elections outright or become prohibitive favorites in their races. These candidates include Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams, Falls Church, Va. City Councilman Lawrence Webb and Austin, Texas City Councilwoman Randi Shade.

The fund is endorsing two candidates for the US House.

Linda Ketner (D) is seeking a seat from South Carolina. She is a longtime businesswoman, community activist and philanthropist. Ketner faces an entrenched Republican incumbent, but the state’s political press says Ketner’s campaign has made the race competitive.

In Colorado, Jared Polis (D), if elected would become the first openly gay man elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.

Among the state endorsements the fund has given its nod to Kate Brown for Oregon Secretary of State. Sen. Brown, who currently serves as the Democratic Leader in the Oregon Senate, would become the first openly LGBT Secretary of State in the U.S.  In Oregon, the office is the second-highest ranking elected post behind the governor.