A 27-year-old Democrat, Malcolm Kenyatta, won in the US Midterm elections as the Pennsylvania State Representative of the 181st District in Philadelphia.
Kenyatta is the grandson of Muhammad Kenyatta, a civil rights leader, minister and politician who ran for mayor of Philadelphia in 1975.
In the early 70s, Muhammad changed his name from Donald Brooks Jackson in honour of Kenya's first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.
American news sites say "politics in his blood," while Newone finds his win as standing out for a number of reasons.
The young politician rose against all odds to win in the election and he is reportedly the first openly black gay candidate to win in Pennsylvania.
Kenyatta previously served at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of Equality Pennsylvania, Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club and the Philadelphia branch of the National Organization for Women.
In 2016, former US President Barrack Obama awarded Kenyatta, a Temple University graduate, with the Volunteer Service Award.
In the same year, he was voted as a delegate for Hillary Clinton to the 2016 Democratic National Convention with about 82,000 votes, the second highest vote total of any delegate in Pennsylvania.
He also appeared in the campaign ads for Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the US Presidential elections.
