With your attention rightly focused on the hotly contested presidential battle between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, or perhaps even some of the various Senate races taking place across the country, it's possible you might have overlooked a few other key happenings that occurred on Election Night. Here's a quick rundown of five things you may have missed.
First Transgender State Senator Elected
Democrat Sarah McBride won a state Senate race on Tuesday in Delaware, and will become the first openly transgender state senator in the country when sworn in.
McBride defeated Republican Steve Washington to win the seat that opened following the retirement of the longest-serving legislator in Delaware history.
McBride won in a heavily Democratic district stretching from northern Wilmington to the Pennsylvania border, and joins several other transgender legislators around the country, but will be the first transgender state senator.
“I think tonight’s results demonstrate what I’ve known my entire life, which is that the residents of this district are fair-minded, and they’re looking at candidates’ ideas and not their identity,” McBride said Tuesday night. “It is my hope that a young LGBTQ kid here in Delaware or really anywhere in this country can look at the results and know that our democracy is big enough for them, too.”
QAnon Theorist Wins US House Seat
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has embraced QAnon conspiracy theories in the past in a series of online videos, has won a U.S. House seat representing northwest Georgia.
Greene's candidacy was bolstered by President Donald Trump, who has called her a “future Republican Star.”
Greene was heavily favored in the conservative district even before Democratic challenger Kevin Van Ausdal suddenly dropped out in September, saying he was moving out of state.
Greene thanked her staff and asked supporters to pray for Trump to win reelection at a watch party Tuesday night – video of which was livestreamed on Facebook.
In her remarks, Greene pledged to “fight hard to make sure that Nancy Pelosi and the squad and the radical Democrats in the House do not steal anything away from America, because this country was never ever meant to be a socialist nation.”
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Former College Football Coach Claims U.S. Senate Seat
Former college football coach Tommy Tuberville recaptured a U.S. Senate seat for Republicans by defeating Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who had widely been considered the Senate’s most endangered Democrat. Tuberville's victory further endangered Democrats' slim hopes of capturing the Senate.
Republicans had made taking back the once reliably conservative seat a priority in 2020. Tuberville, who has never held public office and last coached four years ago, aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump and declared in the campaign: “God sent us Donald Trump.”
Tuberville was the head football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1995 to 1998, Auburn University from 1999 to 2008, Texas Tech University from 2010 to 2012, and the University of Cincinnati from 2013 to 2016.
Dead Man Wins Election
David Andhahl, a 55-year-old Republican from North Dakota who died on Oct. 5 after he had been sick with COVID-19 for several days, won a seat in the North Dakota state house.
North Dakota's attorney general had earlier said that if Andhahl won the race, the seat would be considered vacant and the GOP would choose his replacement – unless enough district voters call for a special election.
N.D. Secretary of State Al Jaeger said it was too late to remove Andahl from the ballot. Early voting had begun up to two weeks before his death.
MMA Fighter Leaps From Ring to City Council
Mixed-martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz came out on top in a 15-candidate rumble for three seats on the city council of Huntington Beach, California.
The conservative and vocal supporter of President Trump entered the fray in the seaside Orange County community after two incumbents announced they wouldn’t be running again and a third termed-out. Ortiz used “Make Huntington Beach Great Again” as a campaign slogan.
The longtime UFC light heavyweight champion — aka the Huntington Beach Bad Boy — had significant name recognition in a crowded field. He made his UFC debut in 1997 and quickly ascended to become one of the sport’s biggest stars.
The Associated Press contributed to this report