US midterm elections firsts: Native American, Muslim, LGBT and women candidates make history

Among the winners were the youngest woman ever elected to Congres, candidates of color and LGBTQ people breaking barriers in Congress and statehouses.
(L-R) Ayanna Pressley from Massachussetts; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and Ilhan Omar from Minnesota. (Photos | AP)
(L-R) Ayanna Pressley from Massachussetts; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and Ilhan Omar from Minnesota. (Photos | AP)

WASHINGTON: The vote to determine control of the US House featured significant milestones. The candidates included 237 women, more than ever before. Among the winners were the youngest woman ever elected to Congres, candidates of color and LGBTQ people breaking barriers in Congress and statehouses.

That includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected to Congress; Ayanna Pressley, the first black House member from Massachusetts; Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim congresswomen; and Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, the first Native American congresswomen. See the full list of firsts here: [FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES HERE]

First time in history two native American women elected to Congress

Deb Haaland made history by becoming one of the first Native American woman elected to Congress. Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe, is a well-known community activist in her solidly Democratic district, working tirelessly to encourage Native Americans -- who make up two percent of the US population -- to vote.

<strong>Deb Haaland | AP</strong>
Deb Haaland | AP

Democrat Sharice Davids, a member of Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation tribe, is an attorney by training and a former mixed martial arts fighter. She is also openly lesbian, in a state that is traditionally conservative. 

<strong>Sharice Davids | AP</strong>
Sharice Davids | AP

Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez (New York Democrat)

At 29, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman elected to Congress. She is still paying off her student loans and until recently had no health insurance.

Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx but raised in suburban Westchester County. Her father died while she was a student at Boston University in 2008. She got her start in politics as an organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

<strong>Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez | AP</strong>
Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez | AP

Abby Finkenauer (Iowa-Democrat)

Abby Finkenauer on Tuesday became the second-youngest woman elected to Congress. Also 29, she is a little more than 10 months older than Ocasio-Cortez. She is also still paying off her student loans.

<strong>Abby Finkenauer | AP</strong>
Abby Finkenauer | AP

She grew up in the northeastern Iowa district she will now represent and has served four years in the Iowa House representing Dubuque.

A favorite of labor unions, she has frequently discussed how her father is a welder and her mother is a school district employee.


Abigail Spanberger (Virginia-Democrat)

The Democrat and political newcomer spent nearly a decade as a CIA operations officer working on counterterrorism and nuclear proliferation cases. Abigail Spanberger, 39, also worked as a federal postal inspector, handling narcotics and money-laundering cases.

<strong>Abigail Spanberger | AP</strong>
Abigail Spanberger | AP

The married mother of three young daughters said she became increasingly disturbed by the sharp political divide in the country, Trump's travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries and the GOP's unsuccessful attempt to repeal Obamacare.


Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts Democrat)

Pressley is the first black woman elected to the House from Massachusetts. The 44-year-old Democrat sailed through Tuesday's general election unopposed.
Her Boston-area district, once represented by John F. Kennedy, is now the first in Massachusetts where minorities make up a majority of the voting population.

<strong>Ayanna Pressley | AP</strong>
Ayanna Pressley | AP

In 2009, Pressley was the first African-American elected to the Boston City Council. Before that, she worked as an aide to Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry.


Ilhan Omar (Minnesota Democrat)

The nation's first Somali-American state legislator has carved her place in history again as the first Somali elected to Congress and one of its first Muslim women.

Omar was born in Somalia but spent much of her childhood in a Kenyan refugee camp as civil war tore apart her home country. She immigrated to the United States at age 12, teaching herself English by watching American TV and eventually settling with her family in Minneapolis, home to the world's largest Somali population outside of East Africa.

<strong>Ilhan Omar | AP</strong>
Ilhan Omar | AP

Omar will also be the first Congress member to wear a Muslim hijab, or headscarf.

Rashida Tlaib (Michigan-Democrat)

When Rashida Tlaib won the Democratic primary to run for the Detroit-area congressional seat, her relatives in the West Bank greeted the news with a mixture of pride and hope that she'd be able to take on a U.S. administration widely seen as hostile to Muslims and the Palestinian cause.

Tlaib and Somali-American Ilhan Omar will be first two female Muslim members of Congress.

<strong>Rashida Tlaib and Donna Shalala (from left to right) | AP</strong>
Rashida Tlaib and Donna Shalala (from left to right) | AP

Tlaib, the eldest of 14 children, is an attorney aligned with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and has said that if elected to the House, she'd push for higher wages and better worker protections.


Donna Shalala (Florida Democrat)

After serving in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet and running major universities, Donna Shalala is starting a third career with her election to the House. Shalala, originally from Cleveland, is of Lebanese descent.

The 77-year-old has served as Clinton's secretary of Health and Human Services for his entire presidency and has made health care a centerpiece of her agenda. She was president of the University of Wisconsin before that, and after Cabinet service she ran the University of Miami until 2015.

After that, Shalala was president of the Clinton Foundation until 2017. Hillary Clinton campaigned for her this year in Miami.


Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Florida-Democrat)

Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell emigrated from Ecuador at age 14 and lived for a time in a one-room Miami apartment with her family. She ran unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate in 2016.

Her first job as a teenager was at a doughnut shop, but she worked to get a bachelor's degree and a graduate degree from Claremont University in international political economy.

Mucarsel-Powell has spent most of her adult career working for nonprofit organizations in Miami such as the Coral Restoration Foundation and the Zoo Miami Foundation. She was an associate dean at Florida International University college of medicine.

SIGNIFICANT OTHERS

First openly gay man to be elected as governorirst
In Colorado, Democratic Representative Jared Polis became the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected as governor. 

<strong>Jared Polis | Twitter</strong>
Jared Polis | Twitter

Arizona to get its first female US senator
In Arizona, the state will elect either Republican Martha McSally or Democrat Kyrsten Sinema as the state’s first woman to serve in the chamber.

Tennessee's first woman senator

Republican Marsha Blackburn will become Tennessee’s first woman senator.

In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, was in a fierce battle to become America’s first black woman governor.

Maine has elected state Attorney General and Democrat Janet Mills as governor, which makes her the first woman to hold the state’s highest office.

Democrat Tish James, is the first African American woman elected to statewide office in New York.

Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar are the first Latinas to represent Texas in the House.

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