Two transgender women — both named Misty — won Democratic nominations for Congress on Tuesday, becoming the first transgender politicians to ever win major-party nominations.
Utah grocery store cashier Misty Snow will take on incumbent Sen. Mike Lee in November, while IT consultant Misty Plowright is set to challenge US Rep. Doug Lamborn in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.
Snow, a liberal Bernie Sanders supporter, defeated marriage therapist Jonathan Swinton, a moderate Democrat who campaigned for limitations on abortion rights.
“A lot of people told me whether I win or lose, I’m already making a difference just by running,” Snow told the Salt Lake Tribune.
She’s previously called Lee “one of the most loathsome people in the Senate, and he needs to be removed from office.”
Plowright beat single dad and Iraq vet Donald Martinez for her shot at Lamborn. Plowright is an Army vet with a wife, Lisa, and a third domestic partner named Sebastian, according to the candidate’s campaign website.
Both women face long odds.
No Democrat has ever represented Colorado’s 5th District. And the last Democrat to represent Utah in the Senate was Frank Moss, who was voted out of office in 1976 in favor of Republican Orrin Hatch.