America’s 116th Congress is going to include some prominent firsts — and several governors’ races made history this midterm, too.
The U.S. has ushered in its first Native American and Muslim congresswomen, its first lesbian mom in Congress and the first openly gay man elected as a state’s governor. South Dakota and Maine elected their first female governors, Tennessee and Arizona sent their first women to the Senate and Massachusetts and Connecticut elected their first-ever black women to the House.
As NPR has previously reported, record numbers of Native Americans, Muslim Americans and women, including many women of color, ran for office in 2018. A “rainbow wave” of LGBTQ candidates also sought office. And after the ballots were cast, all those groups notched notable firsts.
Here are some of the winning candidates who made history on Tuesday:
First openly gay man elected governor: Colorado Democrat Jared Polis
First Native American congresswomen: Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Haaland of New Mexico, both Democrats.
First Muslim congresswomen: Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both Democrats
First Latina congresswomen from Texas: Democrats Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar
First lesbian mom in Congress: Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig
Massachusetts’ first black member of the House: Democrat Ayanna Pressley
Tennessee’s first female senator: Republican Marsha Blackburn
Arizona’s first female senator: Democrat Kyrsten Sinema or Republican Martha McSally
Connecticut’s first black woman sent to Congress: Democrat Jahana Hayes
South Dakota’s first female governor: Republican Kristi Noem
Maine’s first female governor: Democrat Janet Mills
The Midterm Elections Have Made History With These Notable Firsts
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