Historic Election Wins

Kamala Harris (D): Vice Presidential-Elect Harris won a historic election as the first Black Asian-American woman elected to this position.

Cori Bush (D): First Black woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Congress. Bush worked as a medic during Black Lives Matter protests in Furguson during 2014 and is a strong advocate for criminal justice reform and the Green New Deal. Bush is one of a number of marginalized, progressive candidates who joined the U.S. Congress this election.

David Andahl (R): Republic candidate from North Dakota was projected to win one of two seats for North Dakota’s 8th Congressional district. As a rancher and chair of the Burleigh County Planning and Zoning Commission, Andahl ran on a pro-coal and agriculture platform. Despite this success, Andahl died from the novel Coronavirus on October 5th at the age of 55 and his election victory was declared posthumously.

Sarah McBride (D): McBride has gone down in history as the first openly transgender state senator after winning the race in Delaware this General Election. Previously, McBride served as the Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, and is widely credited for championing the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013 which ensured legal protections for transgender people in the state.

Ritchie Torres (D): Born and raised in the Bronx district which he is now representing, Torres’ historic victory means he is the first openly LGBTQ Afro-Latine member of the U.S. Congress. Torres’ campaign was built on progressive housing funding, Medicare for All, and the Green New Deal. He is a recovered addict and has been open about his battle with mental illness, and will be taking these perspectives into his role as New York’s 5th Congressional District Representative-Elect.

Madison Crawthorn (R): Winning North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, Representative- Elect Crawthorn, will become the youngest representative elected to the U.S. House since 1965 at the recently celebrated age of 25. Crawthorn was paralyzed in a car crash at the age of 18; he has drawn upon this strength to win the district election by almost twenty percent, saying “I’m a proven fighter—overcoming life’s toughest
challenges. Now I’m ready to take on the liberals in Congress.”

Marilyn Strickland (D): Washington’s 10th Congressional district voted in favor of Representative-elect Strickland to be the first Korean-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, as well as the first Black woman to reach this position in Washington state. Born in Seoul, Strickland served as mayor of Tacoma for eight years and served as the president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

Ana Irma Rivera Lassén (D): The first Black, openly lesbian Puerto Rican to become an elected legislator in Puerto Rico, Lassén was elected to Puerot Rican Senate this cycle. Lassén has built her career in human rights law and gender discrimination. In 1980 she sued and won a lawsuit against a Judge who would not permit Lassén entry into the court unless she was wearing a skirt or dress. Lassén joins four openly gay Candidates in Puerto Rico to win elected positions.