Key West elected Teri Johnston, Florida’s first openly lesbian mayor
New York elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress
Colorado elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor in the US
Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim woman (alongside Rashida Tlaib) and the first Somali-American woman elected to Congress
Massachusetts elected Ayanna Pressley, the first black woman elected to Congress in Massachusetts
Kansas elected Sharice Davids, an openly gay ex-MMA fighter and one of the first Native American women (alongside Deb Haaland) elected to Congress
Michigan elected Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American (and first Muslim woman, alongside Ilhan Omar) elected to Congress
Kentucky elected Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian-American elected to Kentucky House of Representatives
New Mexico elected Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women (alongside Sharice Davids) elected to Congress
New Hampshire elected Chris Pappas, the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire
Florida elected Anna Eskamani, the first Iranian-American state lawmaker in Florida
And for the first time ever, over 100 women have been elected to the House of Representatives.
Representation matters. Diversity matters. This is progress.
(As of 11/6/18 – 11:23 CT)
Just to add a few more:
Wisconsin reelected Tammy Baldwin as a US Senator. In 1998, she was the first woman to Congress from Wisconsin, the first openly gay person elected to the House of Representatives, and the first open lesbian elected to Congress. In 2012, she became the first openly gay person elected to the US Senate.
Oregon reelected Kate Brown as governor. She originally became governor in 2015 when their previous governor resigned. When she did, she became the state’s second female governor, and the first openly bisexual governor in US history. She won the 2016 special election, making her the first elected bisexual governor, and this year she one her first full term (since she was technically only finishing out the term of the previous governor before this).
Minnesota elected Angie Craig to the House. She is a lesbian, and the first openly gay person elected to Congress from the state. She also defeated an anti-gay GOP incumbent who compared gay people to rapists and denounced same-sex marriage – an opponent who beat her for this seat two years ago.
Two transgender women were elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives: Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker. They will join Danica Roem as the only openly transgender members of any US state legislature.
Kansas elected Susan Ruiz and Brandon Woodard as state representatives. They are the first LGBTQ members the state’s legislature.
Iowa elected Zach Kahls, who defended his two lesbian moms before the Iowa House of Representatives in 2011, to become a state lawmaker himself.
Pennsylvania elected Malcolm Kenyatta, the first LGBTQ black man in their legislature.
Teri Johnston was elected the mayor of Key West in Florida. She is the first openly lesbian mayor in the state’s history.
Not a candidate, but Massachusetts voted to uphold transgender rights protections. It shouldn’t have been getting voted on in the first place, but it’s great that they did the right thing!
And Kim Davis, the anti-gay clerk who refused to marry same-sex couple has been voted out! (I’m not posting her picture because she barely deserves recognition beyond recognizing her exit.)
This shot was taken yesterday by Jonathan Ernst for Reuters. Seems like it might have been of an omen. 🙂
THERE’S MORE??? Man, this is the happiest I felt since that rotten orange rigged the election
The ridiculously well-made creatures from 1987 horror, THE GATE. Stopmotion, actors in suits, forced perspective—visual effects trickery that’s still impressive today, in this CGI age.
likeanantennastraighttoheaven 