US elects its first openly gay governor

DEMOCRAT Jared Polis was declared the winner of Colorado’s race for governor on Tuesday night, becoming the first openly gay governor in US history.

Although often a swing state, Colorado has not had a Republican governor since 2007.

Mr Polis campaigned on universal healthcare, renewable energy standards and publicly funded early childhood education. The entrepreneur also vowed to stand up to Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal healthcare law.

His considerable fortune – he is believed to have made more than $400m from his tech, greetings cards and florist businesses – enabled him to criss-cross the state and make his mark. The 43 year old becomes one of the 10 richest people in Congress.