Four years after she won a City Council seat, making her what is believed to be Georgia’s first transgender politician, Michelle Bruce is battling a lawsuit launched by an unsuccessful opponent who claims she misled voters by running as a female.

Bruce, a tall woman with shoulder-length graying hair, said she has always identified herself as transgender. “I’ve always been Michelle,” she said. “If someone has a problem with that, I can’t help them. It’s a personal issue.”

Bruce, 46, launched her political campaign in 2003. Running unopposed, she landed one of four council seats and pledged to attract more jobs and residents to Riverdale, a gritty town of 12,000 about 12 miles south of Atlanta.

Three rivals ran against her in the Nov. 6 election. She captured 312 votes, not enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff against second-place finisher Wayne Hall, who earned 202 votes.

Then the third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.

The complaint, identifying Bruce as “Michael Bruce,” claims she misled voters by identifying herself as female. It asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.