But a number of states also elected barrier-breakers—from their first transgender state lawmakers to their first Latino or first Black governors.
Here are some of the election-winners who made history in their states.
Katherine Robertson, Alabama’s first female Attorney General-elect, during a campaign event in Mobile on Oct. 2, 2026. —Andi Rice—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Alabama also elected its first openly transgender state lawmaker, Democratic software engineer Allison Montgomery, who flipped a seat held by Republicans in the state House of Representatives. Montgomery’s gender identity came under attack during the campaign, though she tried to keep the focus on issues such as education and affordability.
Arizona’s first Indian American congressperson and first indigenous woman in statewide office
Arizona elected its first Indian American to the U.S. House of Representatives and first Indigenous woman to the state’s utility commission. Democrat Amish Shah, an emergency room doctor and former state legislator, beat the GOP nominee, former NFL placekicker and broadcaster Jay Feely, to succeed retiring Republican David Schweikert as U.S. representative for Arizona’s 1st district. Meanwhile, Democrat Clara Pratte, a member of the Navajo Nation, was elected to Arizona’s Corporation Commission, the state’s five-member utility-regulation body that was previously entirely Republican but will now have two Democrats after Tuesday’s election. Pratte is reportedly Arizona’s first indigenous woman elected to statewide office.
Becerra’s mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico. She immigrated to the U.S. after marrying his father, a construction worker. Becerra first served as a U.S. Representative for California between 1993 and 2017, before his appointment as California’s first Latino Attorney General in 2017 and election to the role in 2018. He was then the first Latino Health and Human Services Secretary, serving in former President Joe Biden’s Cabinet from 2021 to 2025.
Colorado’s first Gen Z and first Black congresswoman, and first Latina and first openly LGBT Secretary of State
Rep.-elect Melat Kiros during the Colorado Democrats’ Election Night watch party in Denver on Nov. 3, 2026. —Aaron Ontiveroz—The Denver Post/Getty ImagesDemocratic socialist Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old Ethiopian-born lawyer turned doctoral student, will become the first Black woman to represent Colorado in Congress, after she was elected to represent the state’s 1st district in the U.S. House. Kiros, who was born in Addis Ababa in May 1997, will also be the first Gen Z woman in Congress.
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds will be Florida’s first Black governor, after he was elected to succeed Ron DeSantis.
Georgia’s first Black woman elected Secretary of State, first woman Attorney General, and first Black woman labor commissioner
In Georgia, Democrat Penny Brown Reynolds will be the state’s first Black woman elected Secretary of State (after Robyn Crittenden was briefly appointed to the role in 2018), Democrat Tanya Miller will be the state’s first female Attorney General, and Democrat Nikki Porcher will be the state’s first Black female Commissioner of Labor.
Rep.-elect J.D. Ford, then a state senator, speaks at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Dec. 11, 2025. —Kaiti Sullivan—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Democratic state senator J.D. Ford will be Indiana’s first openly LGBT member of Congress after beating Republican incumbent Rep. Victoria Spartz, securing a seat Democrats haven’t held since 1992. Ford, who is gay, has been a strong advocate for LGBT rights and previously made history when, in 2018, he unseated a 13-year incumbent who campaigned against same-sex marriage to become the first openly gay member of the Indiana state legislature.
Iowa’s first Senator with a permanent disability
The 47-year-old Turek, who will replace outgoing Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that he says stemmed from his father’s exposure to Agent Orange while on deployment to Vietnam. Turek pursued wheelchair basketball in college and competed professionally in Europe. He’s competed in four Paralympic Games and won gold in two.
Rep.-Elect Dan Koh gives remarks alongside members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a new member orientation press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 8, 2026. —Aaron Schwartz—Getty Images
Democrat Dan Koh, whose father is Korean and whose mother is Lebanese, won the race to represent Massachusetts’ 6th district in Congress, beating Republican Micah Quinney Jones. Koh’s win makes him the first Asian American elected to represent the state in the U.S. House. Koh served in the Biden Administration as White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary and was previously Chief of Staff to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Michigan’s first openly LGBT congressperson, first Native American congressperson, first openly gay Black state senator, and first transgender state representative
State senator Jeremy Moss will become the state’s first openly LGBT member of Congress after he was elected to represent Michigan’s 11th district. Moss defeated Republican Ethan Baker in the race to replace Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost to Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senator.
Sean McCann, another state senator, will become the first Native American elected to Congress from Michigan. The Democrat, who discovered that he belonged to the federally recognized Citizen Potawatomi Nation just this year, beat Republican incumbent Rep. Bill Huizenga to represent Michigan’s 4th district.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar will become Minnesota’s first female governor after she defeated Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Klobuchar, who will succeed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, has broken the glass ceiling before: she was the first female Hennepin County attorney and the first woman elected to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, a seat she has held since 2007.
Nebraska’s first Latina congressperson
Democrat Denise Powell beat Republican Brinker Harding to represent Nebraska’s 2nd district. Powell, a Democratic activist who co-founded the Women Who Run Nebraska political action committee to coach local women to run for office, is Hispanic and will become the state’s first Latina elected to Congress.
Teresa Benitez-Thompson is the first Latina elected to the U.S. House from Nevada. The Democratic former state assembly majority leader defeated Republican David Flippo, flipping the state’s 2nd district that’s been held by Republicans since its creation in the 1980s.
Nevada Gov.-elect Aaron D. Ford at the Nevada Democratic Party’s election watch party in Las Vegas on Nov. 3, 2026. —Ethan Miller—Getty Images
Tya Mathis-Coleman, Nevada’s treasurer-elect, will also become the state’s first Black woman elected to statewide constitutional office.
New Jersey’s first Muslim congressperson
Hamawy volunteered for medical missions in the Gaza Strip in 2024 and 2025 and spoke throughout his campaign about what he witnessed there. In his victory speech, he alluded to Islamophobia in the U.S., saying, “I have never seen anti-Muslim hate as open and as loud and as accepted as it is today.”
Another member of the Democratic Socialists of America, state senator-elect Aber Kawas, will become the first Palestinian American in the New York State Legislature. Kawas acknowledged the feat on social media, posting: “We made history.”
Ohio’s first elected female governor
Ohio Gov.-elect Amy Acton greets supporters at an Election Night watch party in Columbus on Nov. 3, 2026. —Jeff Swensen—Getty ImagesDr. Amy Acton, a Democrat who previously served as the director of Ohio’s health department at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, defeated Trump-backed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the race to become Ohio’s next governor. While Nancy Hollister served as Ohio’s first female governor for 11 days from 1998 to 1999, Hollister assumed the post through succession after Gov. George Voinovich resigned following his election to the U.S. Senate. Acton, therefore, is the first woman Ohio elected to be governor.
Tennessee’s first woman governor
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn was elected Tennessee’s first female governor, beating Democratic candidate Jerri Green and several independents. When she takes office next year, Blackburn, who will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Lee, will also become Tennessee’s oldest governor at 74, taking the record from Republican Alfred Alexander Taylor, who was 72 when he took office in 1921.
Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa speaks at her Election Night watch party in Austin on Nov. 3, 2026. —Mikala Compton—The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images
“I can’t help but think of my grandmother who used to tell me, ‘No te dejes.’ ‘Know your worth, and fight for it,’” Hinojosa said in her victory speech. “A lot of Latinas in Texas grew up hearing those same words from their own mothers and abuelas. This year, we lived them, and we changed this state.”
Washington’s first transgender state lawmaker
“The fact is, people that look like me and have my identity in 2026 are used to being under attack — not leading,” she said. “I think it was because of what’s happening to us, and really maybe even a bit of fear about what might happen to me and my community, that inspired me to run. I never thought we would get this far.”
Wisconsin’s first Black governor, first Latina and first Hmong statewide officials, and first transgender state legislator
Other Democratic candidates also made history in Wisconsin. JoCasta Zamarripa became the first Latina elected to statewide office as Wisconsin’s Secretary of State. Yee Leng Xiong, who was elected as state treasurer, will become Wisconsin’s first Hmong statewide elected official. And Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, a former food-service worker who beat Republican Nina Chat in a race to represent the state assembly’s 76th district, will become the first transgender woman in the Wisconsin state legislature.
“I think about when I was a kid, had I seen people that were trans doing things like being in government and being on television and living life,” Martinez-Rutherford, 56, told the Capital Times. “I hope that it gives kids or families of trans people hope that they can live to be adults and that their children are going to be safe because they have somebody representing them.”
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