The Associated Press called the race for Arizona’s 9th Congressional District for Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema on Monday. Sinema has a lead of nearly 6,000 votes on Republican candidate Vernon Parker while early and provisional ballots are still being counted in Arizona.
In Maricopa County, where the 9th Distrcit is located, there are still 260,000 ballots left to be counted, according to the Phoenix New Times — but only some of those ballots come from the 9th. From the AP:
Sinema becomes the first openly bisexual member of Congress. Her victory came in a year when three states approved gay marriage, and at least five openly gay Democrats were elected to House seats. A Wisconsin congresswoman also became the first openly gay person elected to the Senate.
Parker, who took the national stage briefly in September when he gave the GOP weekly address, was criticized by Democrats as a tea party radical who would hurt children by cutting the federal education department.
