Andrea Jenkins, an openly trans woman of color, won a Minneapolis City Council seat on Tuesday night. Her election, along with Virginia’s Danica Roem, is historic: both women became the first openly trans people to win publicly elected positions.
As her bio notes, Jenkins has 25 years of public service experience under her belt. Before she was elected to Ward 8’s city council, Jenkins was a policy aide to two former city council members. She’s also an award winning poet and author. Sara McBride, press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, celebrated Jenkins’ win on Twitter:
The Star Tribune confirmed Jenkins’ victory. With five out of eight precincts reporting, it’s safe to say that Jenkins won in a landslide: more than 72% of voters picked her as their first choice for the city council position.