Phillippe Cunningham Wins Ward 4, Now 2 Transgender Members Of Minneapolis City Council

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis will now have two transgender members of its city council.

City officials say Barb Johnson, who has served on the council's since 1997, lost the Ward 4 election to Phillippe Cunningham, a former staffer to Mayor Betsy Hodges and a transgender man.

Andrea Jenkins made history in Ward 8 Tuesday night as the first transgender member of a major city council in the country. With Cunningham's election, two of the 13 seats on the Minneapolis City Council will be held by transgender individuals.

On Mayor Hodges's staff, Cunningham focused on "education, youth success, racial equity, and LGBTQ rights," according to his campaign website. He also worked as a special education teacher in Chicago.