Six openly gay candidates were elected
to Congress on Tuesday, with a seventh leading.
Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin won her
Wisconsin race against former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. She
edged out her Republican competitor with a larger lead than expected,
51.5 to 45.9% with 99.6% of precincts reporting. Baldwin becomes the
first openly gay U.S. senator.
Mark Pocan, a small business owner and
a Wisconsin state representative, won his bid to fill the 2nd
Congressional seat being vacated by Baldwin. His Republican
challenger, Chad Lee, ran an unsuccessful bid against Baldwin in
2010. The 48-year-old Pocan married his husband Phil in Canada in
2006.
Richard Tisei is the only upset so far
among the 8 openly LGBT candidates. He lost his bid to become the
House's first openly gay Republican. Massachusetts voters decided
instead to return Representative John Tierney to Congress.
Mark Takano won his race against
Republican John Tavaglione to become the first openly gay
Asian-American in Congress. Takano's newly created 41st
Congressional District includes the Inland Empire, a region located
east of Los Angeles.
In New York, Democrat Sean Patrick
Maloney, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, derailed
incumbent Nan Hayworth, a moderate Republican with a record of
supporting gay rights. Maloney and his partner of 20 years, Randy
Florke, are raising three children.
Two openly gay House members, David
Cicilline of Rhode Island and Jared Polis of Colorado, will also
return next year.
In Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema holds a
narrow lead against her Republican rival, Vernon Parker. If elected,
Sinema, 36, would become the first openly bisexual member of
Congress.
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