Greek American Winners of the 2026 Midterms: Who Won a Seat

16 hours ago

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Greek Americans will be well represented when new legislatures and a new Congress are sworn in, after a strong night for the community in the November 3, 2026 midterm elections.

The west front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., under a clear sky

Of the at least 50 Greek American candidates on the ballot, based on The National Herald's list, 38 won their races in contests called by the Associated Press or reported by state and local election officials as of Wednesday. Four more races were still too close to call, and eight candidates lost.

The winners include a new U.S. senator, six members of the House, four statewide officials and dozens of state lawmakers. Here is the full list, grouped by level of office and then by state.

U.S. Senate

New Hampshire: Chris Pappas (D) won the open Senate seat over Republican John E. Sununu, according to AP. Pappas, whose family comes from Livadi near Elassona, becomes the first Greek American senator since Olympia Snowe.

U.S. House of Representatives

Florida, District 1: Jimmy Patronis (R), reelected.
Florida, District 8: Mike Haridopolos (R), reelected.
Florida, District 12: Gus Bilirakis (R), reelected. His family comes from Kalymnos.
Nevada, District 1: Dina Titus (D), reelected. Her roots are in Trikala.
New Hampshire, District 2: Maggie Goodlander (D), reelected. Her family comes from Avdella in Grevena.
New York, District 11: Nicole Malliotakis (R), reelected. Her family roots are in Sitia, Crete.

Statewide offices

California: Eleni Kounalakis (D) was elected state treasurer with 64.7%, moving over from lieutenant governor.
Connecticut: Susan Bysiewicz (D) was reelected lieutenant governor.
Illinois: Alexi Giannoulias (D) was reelected secretary of state with about 64.6%.
Massachusetts: Diana DiZoglio (D) was reelected state auditor.

State legislatures in the Northeast

Connecticut, House District 17: Eleni Kavros DeGraw (D), 62.7%.
Connecticut, House District 42: Savet Constantine (D), unopposed.
Connecticut, House District 105: Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R), over Josh Beaupre.
Connecticut, House District 149: Tina Courpas (R), about 52%.
Delaware, Senate District 7: Spiros Mantzavinos (D), 67.3%.
Massachusetts, Senate, First Essex and Middlesex: Bruce Tarr (R), the Senate minority leader, unopposed.
Massachusetts, Senate, Hampden and Hampshire: John Velis (D), uncontested.
Massachusetts, House, Fifth Barnstable: Steven Xiarhos (R), unopposed.

New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 7: Louis Juris (D), one of three seats.
New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 8: Efstathia Booras (D), one of three seats.
New Hampshire, House, Hillsborough 16: Benjamin Baroody (D), top vote-getter.
New York, Senate District 26: Andrew Gounardes (D), 83.2%.
New York, Senate District 42: James Skoufis (D), 60.3%.
New York, Assembly District 64: Michael Tannousis (R), 60.5%.
Pennsylvania, House District 53: Steve Malagari (D), 67.8%, over fellow Greek American Yanni Lambros.
Pennsylvania, Senate District 12: Maria Collett (D), 66.2%.
Rhode Island, Senate District 33: Lou Raptakis (D), 61.7%.

State legislatures in the South, Midwest and West

Arizona, House District 12: Stacey Travers (D), one of two seats.
Georgia, House District 104: Chuck Efstration (R), unopposed.
Kentucky, House District 73: Daniel Konstantopoulos (R), 54.4%, in an open seat.
Michigan, House District 75: Penelope Tsernoglou (D), 64.2%.
Michigan, House District 90: Lynn Afendoulis (R), 57.2%, returning to the legislature in an open seat.
Oregon, House District 4: Alek Skarlatos (R), unopposed.
South Carolina, House District 119: Leon Stavrinakis (D), 63.2%.
Wisconsin, Assembly District 86: John Spiros (R), 61.5%.

County offices and the courts

Illinois: Maria Pappas (D) won an eighth term as Cook County treasurer.
Washington: Theo Angelis won Position 5 on the State Supreme Court with 55.6%.

Still too close to call

Four races with Greek American candidates had not been called by Wednesday. Two are separated by a few hundred votes or fewer, and two show the Greek American candidate ahead with ballots still being counted.

Connecticut, House District 81: Christopher Poulos (D), incumbent. Patch reported Republican Timothy Wilk ahead 3,362 to 3,356 in the Secretary of the State's count, a margin within recount range.
New York, Assembly District 126: John Lemondes (R), incumbent. He trailed Ian Phillips by 223 votes with mail ballots still to be counted.
Georgia, House District 151: Mike Cheokas (R), incumbent. He led 47.9% to 40.9% with about 96% of the vote counted.
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.

Who fell short

Eight Greek American candidates lost on Tuesday: Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, independent congressional candidate Ari Eliopoulos in New Jersey, Pamela Michos in New York, Elena Pavlou in New Hampshire, Yanni Lambros in Pennsylvania, Steve Demetriou and Sophia Tjotjos in Ohio, and Patricia Kladis-Schiappa in DuPage County, Illinois.

With 38 confirmed wins and four races still open, the number of Greek Americans holding elected office in the United States could rise further once the last ballots are counted. In 2024, The National Herald counted 42 elected officials of Greek descent across 20 states.

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Cover photo: Noclip via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.