Democratic candidate for Senate Misty Snow poses for a photograph Tuesday, June 28, in Salt Lake City. Snow won Utah's Democratic U.S. Senate primary. | AP Photo Two transgender candidates named 'Misty' win primaries

Primary voters in Utah and Colorado selected transgender women to run for spots in Congress next fall — a first in major-party American political history.

Misty K. Snow will run against tea party favorite Sen. Mike Lee in Utah this November, while Misty Plowright will challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn in Colorado. Both women will face uphill battles this fall: Snow in Republican-heavy Utah and Plowright in Colorado’s 5th congressional district, the most conservative in the state.


Snow, a 30-year-old grocery store clerk from Salt Lake City, beat her primary opponent by nearly 20 percentage points. She ran to the left of her more moderate opponent Jonathan Swinton, criticizing him for supporting limitations on abortion rights, according to a Salt Lake Tribune report.

Plowright, who is 33 years old and works in IT, was similarly successful in her district, located near Colorado Springs, Colorado. She earned the Democratic nomination there by winning more than 13,000 votes while her opponent earned just over 9,600.

