US midterms bring in wave of historic firsts

MADE IT: Laguna Pueblo citizen Deb Haaland reveled in her gubernatorial victory in New Mexico, saying that she is living proof you can build the life you want

US voters on Tuesday night elected the first black female governor, the first Native American female governor, the first Muslim US senator, the first Native female senator and the first openly gay male senator. Most are Democrats, but Republicans have also broken some new ground.

While some of these candidates have avoided focusing on the inherent historic value of their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, some voters’ rights advocates are celebrating how the electorate has expanded.

“These firsts show how our country is changing,” Alexis Anderson-Reed, president and CEO of State Voices, a network of advocates for civic engagement and equity in democracy, said in an e-mail.

Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife, Sarah Jukaku, take the stage after he declares victory during a midterm election night party in Detroit early yesterday.

Photo: AFP

“For years, people of color and LGBTQ+ communities have organized, knocked on doors, talked to voters, held conversations, and done the hard work of saving our democracy,” Anderson-Reed said. “These wins are because of them.”

Democrat Deb Haaland reveled in her history-making moment of becoming the first Native American female governor in US history. Haaland was declared the winner over Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor, to lead New Mexico.

The Laguna Pueblo citizen said that Native Americans are still here despite past efforts by the federal government to strip them of their languages and culture.

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, right, embraces her daughter, Lincoln, at an election night event in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Photo: AP

“Tonight, in our nation’s 250th year, I stand before you as the first Native American woman elected governor in US history,” Haaland told ecstatic supporters at a victory celebration.

In 2018, Haaland was one of the first two Native American women elected to the US Congress. She became the first Native American Cabinet secretary, running then-US president Joe Biden’s Department of the Interior. Charles Curtis, from the Kaw Nation, was the first Native Cabinet member as president Herbert Hoover’s vice president.

Oklahoma was the only state to elect a tribal citizen for governor — Democrat Johnston Murray in the 1950s and current Republican Governor Kevin Stitt.

“I want every child watching to know that your dreams matter and that New Mexico is a place where you can build the life you want,” Haaland said, adding that she is living proof.

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan has become the first Native American female US senator, helping Democrats win back the Senate. A citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan defeated Republican Michele Tafoya, a former National Football League sideline reporter.

Tafoya would have been the first Republican of Latina heritage to sit in the US Senate.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms was declared the winner in the Georgia governor’s race, ending 250 years of US history without a black woman elected as a state’s governor. The former Atlanta mayor was running against Republican billionaire businessman Rick Jackson.

“Tonight should remind us all that no matter what community we come from, Georgia is not defined by one moment in time or by one person,” Bottoms told euphoric supporters. “It’s been defined by all of us, and I will be a governor for everyone in this state.”

All 83 of Georgia’s previous governors have been white men.

Abdul El-Sayed is to become the first Muslim American to serve in the US Senate, after the contentious race against Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan was called yesterday morning.

The Michigan-born El-Sayed has had to contend with Republicans all the way up to US President Donald Trump implying or overtly stating that he is not American and supports terrorism. Trump has called him “dangerously radical,” “too extreme” and referred to him as “Mohammed.”

El-Sayed and his supporters have denounced the attacks as Islamophobic or racist affronts to religious freedom.

Democratic US Representative Chris Pappas has won his US Senate race in New Hampshire and would become the country’s first openly gay male senator.

This new benchmark is not something Pappas has dwelled on while campaigning, saying: “I’m not running to make history.”

The US went from having only three elected black governors in its 250-year history to gaining several more overnight.

On Tuesday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the third one in the US and the only current black governor, was re-elected, while Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Crowley were elected as the first black governor in Florida and Wisconsin respectively. With Bottoms’ victory in Georgia, two Deep South states would be governed by a black leader for the first time.

Moore, chair of the National Governors Association, has called the presence of so many Black gubernatorial contenders “a unique moment.”

It is not “an applause line,” but a challenge to make diverse gubernatorial nominees more common, he said.

Latinos, both Democrats, are to take on the highest state office in two of the biggest states. Texas voters rejected Governor Greg Abbott in favor of Gina Hinojosa, who would be the state’s first Latina governor. Former California attorney general Xavier Becerra outpaced Republican Steve Hilton. He would be California’s first Latino governor since Romualdo Pacheco in 1875.

Like Minnesota, Tennessee elected its first female governor, with Republican US Senator Marsha Blackburn defeating Democrat Jerri Green, a Memphis city councilwoman.

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton was elected to the US Senate. With fellow Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is of Thai heritage, the pair would make Illinois the first state to be represented by two female senators of color. Stratton’s win also means there would be three black women serving in the Senate.