LGBT, Muslim and Women Candidates Make History in the 2018 Midterms
*By Chloe Aiello*
The 2018 Midterms may well go down in U.S. history as an election of firsts, with historic wins for Muslims, women, and LGBTQ candidates.
In Boston, city council woman Ayanna Pressley made history by becoming the first black woman the state of Massachusetts has ever sent to Congress. Pressley ran unopposed after she ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano in the primaries.
In New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old Bronx native and self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, [became the youngest women ever elected to Congress](https://cheddar.com/videos/cheddars-midterm-races-to-watch). She made headlines in September after a stunning primary upset over career politician and incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley.
Two Midwestern states will both be the first to send Muslim women to Congress come 2019. Ilhan Omar handily beat her Republican opponent and will go on to the House to represent Minnesota's fifth district, which includes much of Minneapolis. She will also be the first Somali-American in Congress.
In Michigan, voters elected Rashida Tlaib to fill a seat vacated by John Conyers, who resigned last year after allegations of sexual misconduct. Tlaib won by a landslide in a district that includes parts of Detroit and its suburbs.
Jared Polis made history in Colorado as the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the U.S. An early cannabis proponent, Polis ran on a progressive platform and replaced incumbent John Hickenlooper, who had reached his term limit.
Students, lawmakers and religious leaders have joined forces at a temple in Philadelphia to strongly denounce antisemitism on college campuses and in their communities, one day after University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned amid criticism over her testimony at a congressional hearing.
The former New York City mayor has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who endured threats and harassment after they became the target of a conspiracy theory spread by Trump and his allies.
Donald Trump says he's decided against testifying for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial. In a social media post Sunday, the former president said he “very successfully & conclusively” testified last month and saw no need to appear again.
The president of Harvard University has apologized for her remarks at a congressional hearing on antisemitism, saying she got caught up in a heated exchange and failed to properly denounce threats of violence against Jewish students.
The House Education and Workforce Committee opened an investigation into MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University after an anti-Semitism hearing on Tuesday.
The son of North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer was charged with manslaughter and fleeing an officer after a police pursuit ended in a crash that killed the sheriff's deputy.
