Every Greek American Candidate on the 2026 Midterm Ballot

For Greek Americans following Tuesday's midterm elections, there was a familiar name on the ballot almost everywhere you looked, from the U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire to county offices in Illinois.

At least 50 Greek American candidates in 20 states ran in the November 3, 2026 elections, according to a count by The National Herald, the Greek American newspaper based in New York. They ran as Democrats, Republicans and, in one case, an independent, for seats in Congress, statewide offices, state legislatures, county government and a state supreme court.

Below is every candidate we could confirm, grouped by level of office and then by state. Each entry lists the party, the seat, whether the candidate was an incumbent or a challenger, and a short note on the race. Results are based on races called by the Associated Press or reported by state and local election officials as of Wednesday, and a few contests were still being counted.

U.S. Senate

• New Hampshire: Chris Pappas (D), U.S. Senate, open seat. The four-term congressman, whose family comes from Livadi near Elassona, faced Republican John E. Sununu and won, according to AP. He becomes the first Greek American senator since Olympia Snowe.

U.S. House of Representatives

• Florida, District 1: Jimmy Patronis (R), incumbent. The former Florida chief financial officer won a full term.

• Florida, District 8: Mike Haridopolos (R), incumbent. The former Florida Senate president was reelected.

• Florida, District 12: Gus Bilirakis (R), incumbent. His family comes from the island of Kalymnos, and he was reelected.

• Nevada, District 1: Dina Titus (D), incumbent. Her roots are in Trikala, and she was reelected in Las Vegas.

• New Hampshire, District 2: Maggie Goodlander (D), incumbent. Her family comes from Avdella in Grevena, and she won a second term.

• New Jersey, District 8: Ari Eliopoulos (I), challenger. The candidate of Pontian Greek descent ran against Rep. Rob Menendez and took about 4.2% of the vote.

• New York, District 11: Nicole Malliotakis (R), incumbent. Her family roots are in Sitia, Crete, and she held her Staten Island and southern Brooklyn seat.

Statewide offices

• California, State Treasurer: Eleni Kounalakis (D), open seat. The current lieutenant governor won with 64.7%.

• Connecticut, Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D), incumbent. She was reelected.

• Illinois, Secretary of State: Alexi Giannoulias (D), incumbent. He won another term with about 64.6%.

• Massachusetts, State Auditor: Diana DiZoglio (D), incumbent. She was reelected.

• Nevada, Lieutenant Governor: Stavros Anthony (R), incumbent. He lost to Democrat Sandra Jauregui.

State legislatures in the Northeast

The biggest concentration of Greek American candidates was in state capitols, especially in New York and New England, where several districts have long been represented by members of the community.

• Connecticut, House District 17: Eleni Kavros DeGraw (D), incumbent. She won with 62.7% over Andrew Ziemba.

• Connecticut, House District 42: Savet Constantine (D), incumbent. She ran unopposed.

• Connecticut, House District 81: Christopher Poulos (D), incumbent. His race against Republican Timothy Wilk was separated by a handful of votes.

• Connecticut, House District 105: Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R), incumbent. She defeated Josh Beaupre.

• Connecticut, House District 149: Tina Courpas (R), incumbent. She won with about 52% over Amiel Goldberg.

• Delaware, Senate District 7: Spiros Mantzavinos (D), incumbent. He won with 67.3%.

• Massachusetts, Senate, First Essex and Middlesex: Bruce Tarr (R), incumbent. The Senate minority leader ran unopposed.

• Massachusetts, Senate, Hampden and Hampshire: John Velis (D), incumbent. He was uncontested.

• Massachusetts, House, Fifth Barnstable: Steven Xiarhos (R), incumbent. He ran unopposed.

• New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 6: Elena Pavlou (R). She did not win a seat.

• New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 7: Louis Juris (D). He finished third in a three-seat district, enough for a seat.

• New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 8: Efstathia Booras (D), incumbent. She finished second in a three-seat district.

• New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 16: Benjamin Baroody (D), incumbent. He was the top vote-getter in his district.

• New York, Senate District 11: Pamela Michos (R), challenger. She lost to Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky.

• New York, Senate District 26: Andrew Gounardes (D), incumbent. He won with 83.2%.

• New York, Senate District 42: James Skoufis (D), incumbent. He won with 60.3%.

• New York, Assembly District 64: Michael Tannousis (R), incumbent. The Staten Island lawmaker of Cypriot descent won with 60.5% over Tim Qorraj.

• New York, Assembly District 126: John Lemondes (R), incumbent. He trailed Ian Phillips by 223 votes with mail ballots still to be counted.

• Pennsylvania, House District 53: Steve Malagari (D), incumbent. He won with 67.8%.

• Pennsylvania, House District 53: Yanni Lambros (R), challenger. He lost to Malagari in a race between two Greek Americans.

• Pennsylvania, Senate District 12: Maria Collett (D), incumbent. She won with 66.2%.

• Rhode Island, Senate District 33: Lou Raptakis (D), incumbent. He won with 61.7% over James Pierson.

State legislatures in the South, Midwest and West

• Arizona, House District 12: Stacey Travers (D), incumbent. She won one of the district's two seats.

• Georgia, House District 104: Chuck Efstration (R), incumbent. He ran unopposed.

• Georgia, House District 151: Mike Cheokas (R), incumbent. He led 47.9% to 40.9% with about 96% of the vote counted.

• Kentucky, House District 73: Daniel Konstantopoulos (R), open seat. The Clark County magistrate won with 54.4%.

• Michigan, House District 75: Penelope Tsernoglou (D), incumbent. She won with 64.2%.

• Michigan, House District 90: Lynn Afendoulis (R), open seat. The former state representative won with 57.2%.

• Michigan, Senate District 20: Chris Moraitis (R), open seat. He led Democrat Dale Murney 54.3% to 44.4% with roughly three quarters of the vote counted.

• Ohio, Senate District 27: Steve Demetriou (R), open seat. The state representative lost to Democrat Mike Roberto.

• Ohio, House District 16: Sophia Tjotjos (R), open seat. She lost to Democrat Scott DiMauro.

• Oregon, House District 4: Alek Skarlatos (R). He ran unopposed.

• South Carolina, House District 119: Leon Stavrinakis (D), incumbent. He won with 63.2%.

• Wisconsin, Assembly District 86: John Spiros (R), incumbent. He won with 61.5% over Andy Wuethrich.

County offices and the courts

• Illinois, Cook County Treasurer: Maria Pappas (D), incumbent. She won an eighth term.

• Illinois, DuPage County Clerk: Patricia Kladis-Schiappa (R). She lost.

• Washington, State Supreme Court, Position 5: Theo Angelis (nonpartisan). He won with 55.6% over Dave Larson.

A deep bench across both parties

The field was split evenly between the two major parties, with 24 Democrats and 24 Republicans, and it reached well beyond the places most associated with Greek America, from Kentucky and Georgia to Arizona and Oregon. In 2024, The National Herald counted 42 elected officials of Greek descent serving across 20 states, so this year's slate of at least 50 candidates shows how many more members of the community are now seeking office.

Some of the closest contests in the country also involved Greek American candidates. In Connecticut and upstate New York, the final result may not be known until every mail and provisional ballot is counted, and possibly not until a recount.

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Cover photo: Tom Arthur via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.