The first openly gay black man has been elected to the US Congress.
Ritchie Torres has captured the House seat for New York's 15th congressional district.
Torres, a Democrat, won the blue district spanning the South Bronx comfortably.
Mondaire Jones, also an openly gay black politician, won hours after Torres, for a seat representing the suburbs north of the city.
Torres and Jones both won Democratic primaries in the spring to replace veteran Congress members who are retiring.
Torres, who identifies as Afro-Latino, has been a member of the New York City Council since 2014.
The congressional district in the Bronx he will represent is one of the poorest and most Democratic in the nation.
Jones is a 33-year-old black lawyer who ran with the backing of progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a district that includes all of Rockland county and part of Westchester County.
There are currently nine openly LGBTQ members of Congress, including Rep. Mark Takano, who became the first openly gay person of color in Congress when he was elected in 2012, reports BuzzFeed.
Also in this election Democratic nominee Sarah McBride become the first transgender person elected to the United States senate.
Ms McBride won the race for the Delaware senate during Tuesday's general election, making her the first transgender person to hold office in the state's upper chamber.
Shortly after the result was announced she wrote on Twitter : "We did it. We won the general election. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
"I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too.
"As Delaware continues to face the Covid crisis, it's time to get to work to invest in the policies that will make a difference for working families."
