The midterm winners who made history are now taking office
What was already the most diverse Congress ever became even more so after November's midterm elections, which broke barriers of race and gender. From Colorado electing the first openly gay governor to Massachusetts' first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, here's a look at the history-making newcomers who are officially taking office this week:
Jared Polis
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In Colorado, Jared Polis is the country's first governor openly elected as gay. In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevy, elected in 2001, had been outed as gay while in office.
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib
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Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.
Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids
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New Mexico Democrat Deb Haaland, left, and Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids were elected the first two Native American women to serve in Congress.
Davids is also the first openly LGBT person to represent Kansas at the federal level.
Ayanna Pressley
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Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat and Boston city councilwoman, became Massachusetts' first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Pressley stunned the political establishment in September, defeating a 10-term incumbent in the Democratic primary, and ran unopposed in the general.
"None of us ran to make history," Pressley told supporters in her acceptance speech Tuesday. "We ran to make change. However, the historical significance of this evening is not lost on me. The significance of history is not lost on me."
Cindy Hyde-Smith
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Cindy Hyde-Smith became the first woman elected to Congress from Mississippi, but only after a divisive runoff shaped by the Republican's video-recorded remark about "public hanging."
Above: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., left, stands with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, right, during a ceremonial swearing-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema
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Regardless of who won in Arizona's competitive Senate race, the state was set to elect either Republican Martha McSally or Democrat Kyrsten Sinema as the state's first woman to serve in the chamber. Sinema ended up taking the seat with 50 percent of the vote.
Marsha Blackburn
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Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn won a grueling, expensive contest to become the first female U.S. senator from Tennessee, keeping a key midterm seat under GOP control.
Jahana Hayes
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Acclaimed educator Jahana Hayes won election to the U.S. House from Connecticut, becoming the first black woman to represent the state in Congress.
Hayes, a Democrat on her first foray into politics, defeated Republican Manny Santos, a former mayor of Meriden.
Lauren Underwood
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Democrat Lauren Underwood, a 32-year-old African-American nurse from suburban Chicago, defeated four-term Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren to become the first woman and first minority to represent a traditionally GOP-leaning Illinois congressional district.
Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia
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Texas elected a Latina to Congress for the first time. Two of them, in fact: Democrats Veronica Escobar of El Paso, left, and Sylvia Garcia of Houston.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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At 29, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, is the youngest woman elected to Congress. Ocasio-Cortez has said she is still paying off her student loans and until recently had no health insurance.
