Amidst all the frenzy, US congressional election delivers historic firsts

Even with all our imagination captured by the US Presidential Election where President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden locked horns, there have been historic firsts that have been registered in the elections for Senates and House Representatives. 

These are silent but resounding steps that America has taken towards a more progressive and inclusive voting system.

Nation’s first transgender state senator

Transgender activist Sarah McBride won her party’s nomination for a seat from Delaware in the state Senate, making her the first transgender person in the United States to be elected for the post.

McBride secured a thumping victory against Republican candidate Steve Washington, securing 91% of the votes for the Democratic primary in Delaware’s first district.

First nonbinary state legislator in the US

Following her win in Oklahoma’s 88th district, Mauree Turner became the first non-binary US state legislator. 

Beating Republican candidate Kelly Barlean, the 27-year-old won in her district, which includes the democratic leaning Oklahoma city, in the heavily Republican state of Oklahoma.

Turner identifies as nonbinary, which is defined by the National Center for Transgender Equality as gender understood as neither male nor female.

America’s first Black member of Congress who identifies as gay

Ritchie Torres, son of a Puerto Rican father and an Afro-American mother, of the Democratic Party, became the first openly gay black man to be elected to the US Congress.

The 32-year-old Afro-Latino was elected to the Congress from New York’s 15th Congressional District defeating Republican Party’s Patrick Delices by a huge margin.

North Carolina elects the youngest member of Congress

At 25, Madison Cawthorn became the youngest Republican to become a US Senator after beating Democrat Moe Davis for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Earlier, Cawthorn was also embroiled in a Nazi-related social media scandal, after he posted photos on his Instagram page that show him in 2017 visiting Adolf Hitler’s vacation house in Germany known as the “Eagle’s Nest.”

New Mexico elects the first all-female congressional delegation

Following the victory of three New Mexico women, all women of colour, in their respective districts, they became the first all-female congressional delegation to represent a state.

While Deb Haaland, one of the very first Native American woman in Congress, was re-elected for her second term, Yvette Herell won her race for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District and Teresa Leger Fernandez won her race for the 3rd District.

Missouri elects ‘Black Lives Matter’ activist as state’s first Black woman to Congress

Cori Bush, a veteran Black Lives Matter activist, became the state’s first Black woman to represent the state in Congress after winning a US House seat in Missouri, according to CNN.

After the tragic shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014, Bush, a nurse and a pastor, became an organizer and protest leader.