Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema Could Be First Bi U.S. Senator

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona

 Last night in Arizona's primary election for the upcoming fall mid-terms, Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, Kyrsten Sinema is the first openly bisexual member of the House.

She is the first openly bisexual candidate to run for the Senate from Arizona, and should she win in November, would be Arizona's first female Senator.

But another woman stands in her way.

Rep. Martha McSally clinched the Republican nod in the race for GOP Sen.Jeff Flake’s seat, who announced early that he would not be running for re-election.

McSally was forced to tact far to the right to defeat her primary opponents, former state Sen. Kelli Ward and virulently anti-immigration former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who appeared to split the more extreme fringes of the GOP.

McSally was the first woman to pilot a fighter jet.

HRC released the following statement on Sinema's victory in the Arizona primary:

“HRC proudly supports pro-equality champion Rep. Kyrsten Sinema -- a strong, effective leader who puts solutions first and fights to ensure every Arizonan has a shot at the American Dream,” said HRC Arizona State Director Justin Unga. “The stakes in November could not be clearer. In the coming weeks, HRC will continue mobilizing more than 800,000 Equality Voters and tens of thousands of members and supporters in the state to turn out for Sinema.”

The Republicans currently have a slim one vote edge in the Senate. They can only afford to lose one seat in the Senate without losing control of the chamber.

As I've written before, this year marks a big uptick in the number of LGBTQ people running for public office at various federal, state and local levels.