The middle period may bring a wave of historic firsts for some states and the country | Today’s news

Featuring one of the most diverse slates of both Democratic and Republican candidates in recent years, this midterm election has set up a possible wave of historic leadership firsts across the country.

Voters elected the first openly gay U.S. senator on Tuesday night. They could still propel into office the first Native American female governor and female senators, the first black female governor and the first Muslim U.S. senator, among other milestones. Most are Democrats, but the GOP could break through as well.

While some of these candidates have avoided focusing on the inherent historical value of their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, some voter rights advocates celebrate how the voter base has expanded.

Quick answers to key questions

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The races could produce the first Native American female governor, Native American female senator, black female governor and Muslim U.S. senator. The election also marked the first openly gay U.S. senator.

Democrat Chris Pappas won his Senate election in New Hampshire, becoming the first openly gay senator in the country.

Democrat Deb Haaland could become the first Native American governor if she defeats Republican Gregg Hull in New Mexico.

Mary Peltola in Alaska and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota are running for Senate seats and could make history as Native women senators. Peltola is Yup’ik and Flanagan is a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.

Advocates say the former reflect a changing country and expanding representation. Deb Haaland said indigenous representation matters more than just a slogan.

“These early results 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 by email.

“For years, people of color and the LGBTQ community have been organizing, knocking on doors, talking to voters, having conversations and doing the hard work of saving our democracy,” Anderson-Reed said. “These wins are because of them.

Here are some of the races where history could be made.

First Native American female governor

Democrat Deb Haaland broke barriers back in 2018 as one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress. She then became the first Native American cabinet secretary to direct President Joe Biden’s Department of the Interior. Charles Curtis of the Kaw Nation was President Herbert Hoover’s vice president.

Now, the Laguna Pueblo native is poised to add the first Native American female governor to the list if she defeats Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor, in New Mexico.

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

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Haaland shrugged off a question about her various political identities.

“I think somebody has to be first,” she said. “I just don’t want to be last, do I?”

But she says she’s proud to see Indigenous people care about representation while other Indigenous women run. “It really matters,” Haaland said. “It’s not just a slogan.

First native female senator

Mary Peltola, who is Yup’ik and a Democrat, was considered a trailblazer in 2022 when she became the first Alaska Native elected to the US House of Representatives. Now the former congresswoman is trying to do the same in the Senate by unseating incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Minnesota Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive Democrat and citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe who faces Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL reporter, could also receive honors.

And if Tafoya wins, she too would make history as the first Latino Republican to sit in the US Senate.

First black female governor

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Lisa Demuth could end a 250-year streak without a black woman serving as the state’s governor.

Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, is running against Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman, to become governor of Georgia. If he wins, Bottoms would also be Georgia’s first governor of color. All 83 previous governors of Georgia have been white.

Demuth, a former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, will run against longtime Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Either way, Minnesota will get its first female governor.

Stacey Abrams is the only black woman to come close to winning the governor’s race, earning the Georgia Democratic nomination in 2018 and 2022.

First Muslim US Senator

Abdul El-Sayed could be the first Muslim American to serve in the US Senate.

The progressive Democrat from Michigan needs to defeat Republican Mike Rogers in a very close and contested race.

El-Sayed has had to contend with Republicans all the way up to Trump who have implied or openly stated that the Michigan-born epidemiologist is not American and supports terrorism. Trump called him “dangerously radical”, “too extreme” and called him “Mohammed”. El-Sayed and his supporters condemned the attacks as Islamophobic or racist insults to religious freedom.

First openly gay US senator

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas won his Senate election in New Hampshire, becoming the first openly gay senator in the country. He defeated former Republican US Senator John E. Sununa, who previously served in both houses of Congress.

This new benchmark isn’t something Pappas dwelled on during the campaign, saying, “I’m not running to make history.” But he also applauded the fact that his sexual orientation was not a big source of discussion among potential voters.

The first black governors

The US could go from having just three elected black governors in its 250-year history to having seven more overnight.

On Tuesday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore won re-election, the third in the US and the only current black governor, while Republican Byron Donalds was elected as Florida’s first black governor. In addition to Georgia and Minnesota, the two could have new counterparts in Wisconsin, Nevada, South Carolina and Michigan.

Moore, the president of the National Governors Association, called the presence of so many black gubernatorial candidates “a unique moment.” It’s not an “applause” but a call to make diverse gubernatorial candidates more mainstream, he said.

A record year for women running for governor and Congress

This midterm marked a record for the number of women running for state and federal office. According to the Center on American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, Democrats have increased the number of female candidates to 19 candidates for governor in 2022. The GOP has seven women running for governor.

Like Minnesota, Tennessee will elect its first female governor. The leading candidates are Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Jerri Green, a member of the Memphis City Council.

The election of the first Democratic Asian-American governor could take place in Vermont with Amanda Janoo, who is half Malaysian, or in Oklahoma with Cyndi Munson, a former state legislator of Korean descent. Former Republican Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who is of Indian descent, was the first Asian American female governor.

Nearly 300 women, including incumbents, are running for the U.S. Senate and House, as documented by the Rutgers Center on American Women and Politics.

Among them, Democrat Juliana Stratton in Illinois, who defeated Republican Don Tracy on Tuesday. Stratton, the current governor, will succeed outgoing Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. With fellow Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is of Thai descent, the pair will make Illinois the first state to be represented by two senators of color.