2nd Transgender Candidate Wins Council Seat in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A second transgender candidate has won a spot on the Minneapolis City Council.

Phillipe Cunningham narrowly won a northwestern Minneapolis ward by defeating longtime incumbent and council president Barb Johnson. His victory wasn’t announced until Wednesday afternoon, due to the instant-runoff voting system Minneapolis uses.

Cunningham is a 29-year-old transgender man. His victory follows one by Andrea Jenkins, a transgender woman who easily won a seat on the City Council Tuesday night.

It adds to a banner night for transgender people in public office. Danica Roem became the nation’s first openly transgender state lawmaker by winning a Virginia Statehouse seat.

Victory Fund, a group that advocated for LGBT candidates, said Jenkins was the nation’s first openly transgender woman elected to a major city’s governing board.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. PHOTO AP

 

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