Firsts for women and minorities in US midterm elections | US Midterm Elections 2026 News

The elections, which saw the Democratic Party make big gains, also marked firsts for women and minorities in major offices.

There have been a number of firsts in United States midterm elections, with candidates from underrepresented groups elected to office.

In New Hampshire, voters elected Chris Pappas to the US Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, making him the first openly gay senator in the country’s history.

In the swing state of Michigan, progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won a hotly contested US Senate race, making him the first Muslim voted into the chamber.

In New Mexico, Deb Haaland was elected governor of the state, becoming the first Native American female governor of any state. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, previously served as secretary of the interior under then-President Joe Biden.

In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa was elected governor, becoming the first Hispanic woman to hold the office. In California, Democrat Xavier Becerra was elected as the state’s first Latino governor.

Georgia elected Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, as governor, making her the first Black woman to serve as governor anywhere in the US.

Amy Acton, a Democrat, won office, becoming Ohio’s first female governor.

Byron Donalds won Florida’s gubernatorial race to become the first Black Republican governor in the US.

Three Black women will serve for the first time in the US Senate next term, all of them Democrats: Juliana Stratton from Illinois, Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware, and Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland.