Diverse candidates win seats in US Government

Hillary Clinton made history as the first female presidential nominee on the ballot, but the 2016 election saw other, more successful attempts by candidates from several states entering uncharted territory and breaking barriers.

Here are some examples of notable campaigns that reflected the country’s growing ethnic, social and gender diversity.

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris, 52, the attorney general of California, became the first black woman elected to represent the state in the US Senate on Tuesday night. She defeated Representative Loretta Sanchez in California’s first Democrat-only race for that office, the result of the top-two primary system introduced by a 2010 ballot initiative.

Harris’ victory made her only the second black woman voted into the Senate after Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1999.

Harris’ mother was born in India and came to the United States to study science, while her father grew up in Jamaica, according to her biography.

Catherine Cortez Masto

After a close race fuelled by record outside spending, Catherine Cortez Masto, 52, a Nevada Democrat, became the first Latina US senator. She defeated Rep. Joe Heck to fill the seat of Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader, who is retiring after three decades in the chamber.

Tammy Duckworth

Democrat Representative Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, defeated Senator Mark S. Kirk, who had been seen as perhaps the most imperilled incumbent Republican in the Senate. Duckworth is the first candidate of Thai heritage — she was born in Thailand to a Thai mother of Chinese descent — to win a seat in the Senate.

Duckworth, 48, is a US veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War after the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade in 2004.

“It just shows you how diverse we are becoming when our female veterans who are wounded are reaching some of the highest offices in the country,” said Mark N. Strand, the president of the Congressional Institute.

Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar made history on Tuesday night, becoming the nation’s first Somali-American legislator after a commanding victory in a Minnesota House race, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Minnesota is home to the nation’s largest Somali immigrant population. And Omar, a Muslim who faced only nominal Republican opposition in a Minneapolis district, continued an unlikely political journey that began amid the Somali civil war and a Kenyan refugee camp, the newspaper said.

Kate Brown

When Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon resigned in 2015, it paved the way for Kate Brown, a Democrat and secretary of state at the time, to inherit the job. Her swearing-in made her the first openly bisexual governor in the United States.

Brown’s election to the office on Tuesday was another American milestone, with Oregon becoming the first state to vote in an openly gay governor.

After she was appointed governor, Brown banned so-called gay conversion therapy and extended protections for transgender students in Oregon schools.

“Kate Brown hasn’t just made history, she’s made life better for countless LGBTQ people in Oregon during her career in public service,” said Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign.

Pramila Jayapal and Cyrus Habib

Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat, will become the first Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives after she defeated Brady Walkinshaw in Washington’s 7th Congressional District.

The 52-year-old state senator, an immigrant-rights activist, captured the vote as of early Wednesday in the contest between the two Democrats vying for the seat of retiring Rep. Jim McDermott, The Seattle Times reported.

Cyrus Habib, 35, a Democrat from Bellevue, defeated a conservative radio host and pastor, Marty McClendon, to win the office of lieutenant governor.

Habib becomes the nation’s highest-ranking Iranian-American elected official, The Seattle Times reported.

Tim Scott

Senator Tim Scott, 51, of South Carolina became the first black Republican from the South to be elected to a full Senate term since the Reconstruction era, a spokeswoman, Michele Exner, said.

Misty K. Snow and Misty Plowright

For the first time, two openly transgender candidates received major party nominations to compete for Senate and House seats, but lost their races.

Misty K. Snow, 31, a Democrat from Utah, lost her bid to take the Republican incumbent Mike Lee’s Senate seat, NBC reported.

Misty Plowright, a Colorado Democrat, was defeated in a race for the House against the incumbent Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican, The Denver Post reported.