Phillipe M. Cunningham is a former city council member for Minneapolis Ward 4 and the first transgender man of color to be elected to public office in the United States. Cunningham won the council position in the 2017 Minneapolis City Council election and lost it in the 2021 election. Early life and education Cunningham was born in Streator, Illinois, where he lived until he was 18. His father worked as a unionized tractor mechanic/builder for more than forty years, while his mother was a dry cleaner employee; he is their only child. He graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese studies. He transitioned during his junior year at DePaul, inspired by the life and work of Lou Sullivan. Career In his early career, Cunningham worked as a special education teacher in Chicago Public Schools on the South Side of Chicago. Prior to his election to public office, Cunningham served on the City of Minneapolis' Youth Violence Prevention Executive Committee and as a senior policy aide for former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges. On November 7, 2017, Cunningham was elected as the city council member for Minneapolis Ward 4, becoming the first transgender man of color to be elected to public office in the United States. Cunningham won over 20-year incumbent Barb Johnson by 175 votes. He was defeated on November 2, 2021, in the 2021 Minneapolis City Council election by LaTrisha Vetaw by a 61% to 30% vote. Ward 4 is the northwestern most ward in Minneapolis, and people of color and indigenous residents comprise 57 percent of the population. After Cunningham lost the election, the Minneapolis Board of Ethical Practices found Cunningham violated the city's ethics code when he deleted a Ward 4 Facebook post. Cunningham had alleged code violations by a local auto repair company and deleted the post after racial slurs were posted in the comment section. Since he was no longer council member, the city could not discipline him. Political views Cunningham is a progressive Democrat. Public Safety Cunningham advocates for the public health approach to public safety. After George Floyd's killing, he joined a group of nine city council members who vowed to end the Minneapolis Police Department and create a new model for safety. Through the Safety for All Budget Plan, he secured permanent funding for violence prevention strategies like Next Step hospital-based bedside violence intervention. The Safety for All