The midterm election brought a wave of historic firsts along with seismic shake-ups in Congress. As of next year, the U.S. will have its first Muslim U.S. senator, its first Black female governor, its first openly gay male senator, and more.
State governors’ races featured the most unprecedented wins.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was the first Black woman elected governor in United States history. Her decisive win in Georgia comes eight years after Stacey Abrams lost in a painfully tight race for the state’s governorship.
Wisconsin, Nevada and Florida elected their first Black governors. David Crowley, a Democrat from Wisconsin; Aaron Ford, a Democrat from Nevada; and Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, claimed victories in key races.
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“Tonight, Wisconsin made history,” Crowley said. “Being your next governor is humbling in its own right. I don’t take any of this light, and I know exactly the shoulders that I stand on.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is currently the only sitting Black governor in the U.S.
California and Texas, both with populations that are approximately 40% Hispanic, elected their first Hispanic governors. Xavier Becerra won in California, while Gina Hinojosa delivered a shocking win over sitting Republican Governor Greg Abbott in Texas.
Other historic wins include New Mexico’s Deb Haaland, who will be the first Native American woman to serve as governor in the U.S., and Amy Acton, who is the first woman elected governor of Ohio.
“And tonight, in our nation’s 250th year, I stand before you as the first Native American woman elected in the United States,” Haaland said. “Tonight isn’t only about history. It’s about our future.”
The Senate was a hotbed of firsts as well. Michigan elected the nation’s first Muslim senator in Abdul El-Sayed. Annie Andrews became the first woman to win a Senate election in South Carolina. Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota became the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
Chris Pappas, a Democrat from New Hampshire, is the first openly gay man to be elected to the Senate.
Some historically red states also saw transgender and nonbinary people elected to state legislatures for the first time. Alabama elected Allison Montgomery and Georgia voters elected Bentley Hudgins.
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