The country has known about HIV for 35 years now, but so far no one openly living with the virus has been elected to U.S. Congress. That could change this fall if Bob Poe wins the race for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 10th District.

As Watermark reports, Poe’s status makes him a rare politician. Fewer than six state legislators are openly HIV positive; only one other person with HIV has run for U.S. Congress; and most HIV-positive elected officials disclosed their status after taking office.

Poe, 61, who launched a radio station and founded a company that provides emergency-alert (reverse 911) communications systems, has been involved in Florida politics and the Democratic Party since he was a kid.

Like many men his age, he was happily married to a woman and has a daughter, all while fighting his attraction to men and escaping the situation through alcohol and drugs. He quit drinking in 1994, Watermark reports, and met his future husband, Ken Brown, in 2008.

Poe tested HIV positive in 1998.

“When I was chair of the state Democratic Party back in 2000, I would go so far as to tear the labels off my medicine bottles, shred those labels and then drive to an entirely different location to deposit the empty bottles in a dumpster,” Poe told the paper. “I was terrified that someone would find out.”

It was only in the last several weeks that he decided to disclose his status to the public.

While on the campaign trail recently, he met an African-American woman who shared with him that she tested positive for HIV and was worried because she had no health insurance and didn’t know where to turn for help.

“I just wanted to hug her and tell her that she wasn’t alone, that I’m HIV [positive] and that I’m happy and healthy and she will be too. But I couldn’t,” Poe said. “I couldn’t in that moment. Afterwards it became clear to me. I have an obligation to do this if I’m going to be a public servant.… My encounter with that woman, who was just looking for reassurance, took me over the edge.”

Visit BobPoeForCongress.com to learn more.