US Midterms: Several Historic Firsts in Senate, House and Governor Races

WASHINGTON (International Desk) – In the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, candidates from Muslim, Black, Native American, South Asian, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities won a series of historic firsts.
Senate

• Peggy Flanagan (Minnesota): first Native American woman in the Senate.
• Chris Pappas (New Hampshire): first openly gay man to win a Senate race.
• Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan): first Muslim American to win a Senate race.
• Juliana Stratton (Illinois): Illinois becomes the first state with two women of color in the Senate at once.
  House
• Melat Kiros (Colorado): the state’s first Black congresswoman.
• Adam Hamawy (New Jersey): the state’s first Muslim member of Congress.
• Claire Valdez (New York): the state’s first Native American congresswoman.
• Jeremy Moss (Michigan): the state’s first openly LGBTQ+ House member.
• Pia Dandiya (Florida): the state’s first South Asian member of Congress.
• Denise Powell (Nebraska): the state’s first Latina in Congress.
  Governors
• Deb Haaland (New Mexico): first Native American woman governor in US history.
• Keisha Lance Bottoms (Georgia): first Black woman governor in US history.
• Byron Donalds (Florida): Florida’s first Black governor and the first Black Republican governor.
• David Crowley (Wisconsin): the state’s first Black governor.
• Gina Hinojosa (Texas): the state’s first Latina governor, defeating Greg Abbott.
• Xavier Becerra (California): the state’s first directly elected Latino governor.
• Amy Acton (Ohio): the state’s first elected woman governor and first Jewish governor.
• Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee): the first women governors of their states.
  The country will also have at least four Black governors at once for the first time.
  Other offices: In Georgia, Tanya Miller became the first woman attorney general, and Penny Brown Reynolds the first Black secretary of state elected by popular vote. In Texas, Vikki Goodwin became the first woman lieutenant governor, and Nathan Johnson the first Democratic attorney general since 1994.