The first Gen Z congresswoman, the first openly lesbian female governor, the first black governor in Maryland, the first transgender man in a state legislature or the first senator from Alabama, are some of the candidates who have broken barriers in American history. As projections of results were arriving throughout the night and the post-election day, important milestones were known in the elections that ensured a more diverse (and real) political representation of American society. Both Democrats and Republicans hoped to make a difference with their elected positions, whether in Congress or in the governorships or in smaller positions. Here is a selection:
Maxwell Frost, 25, is the first Gen Z or digital native to secure a seat in the House of Representatives. That was the minimum age to join the Lower House and the Democratic representative met expectations by beating Republican Calvin Wimbish in Florida's 10th district with a percentage close to 59% of the vote.
The young African-American was raised by an adoptive mother of Cuban origin, who came to the United States on the so-called "Freedom Flights," which left Cuba with refugees in the 1970s. Frost, born in 1997, will decide at the Lower House (where the average age is 58 years) between white and gray faces. A campaign focused on gun violence, climate change, abortion rights and expanded health care that seduced the younger vote gave him a predictable victory. "We have made history for the people of Florida, for generation Z and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future," the young man said on Twitter after learning the results on Tuesday night. Another young woman from Generation Z, Republican Karoline Leavitt, is also running for Congress.
In Massachusetts, Democrat Maura Healey scored a historic victory by becoming both the state's first female governor and the nation's first openly lesbian governor. "To all the little girls and all the LGBTI boys, I hope tonight shows that you can be whoever you want to be," she said during her victory speech. In addition, her election of her in Massachusetts and that of Kim Driscoll as deputy governor, means that for the first time there will be two women in both positions in the United States.
Healey has snatched the governorship from the Republicans after eight years in the hands of the conservatives. During her campaign, focused on working families, she expressed her desire to facilitate access to safe and legal abortion and ensure childcare.
For her part, Republican Katie Britt has managed to be the first woman to win a seat in the Senate representing Alabama. Britt, a 40-year-old lawyer, will replace Senator Richard Shelby, who is retiring at the end of this term after 36 years in the Senate and for whom she was chief of staff. Fifty-eight women have so far served as US senators since the first was elected in 1932, in a chamber that has 100 members.
In Maryland there were also surprises. Democrat Wes Moore, bestselling author, television producer, 44-year-old banker and executive director of the non-profit Robin Hood Foundation, an organization that fights poverty, became the first black to win the governorship of that state very close to the capital, Washington. He is only the third black governor elected in the nation's 246-year history, joining Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Douglas Wilder of Virginia. With his victory, the Democratic Party took a position held by a Republican.
"It's not lost on me that I've made some history here tonight. I'm honored to be a part of this legacy. But that's not why we entered this race. The history that matters most to us is the history that we and the people of this state we are going to do in the next four years," Moore assured his followers after learning of his victory.
Also making her debut in Arkansas is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is projected to be the first female governor of this conservative southern state, a position her father, Mike Huckabee Sanders, already held between 1996 and 2007. Some will remember the 40-year-old Republican for her time in the White House, when she served as press secretary for the first half of former Republican President Donald Trump's term, between 2017 and 2019.
And in Oklahoma, Republican Markwayne Mullin of the Cherokee Nation became the first Native American elected to the state Senate in nearly a century. It is not the first time that Mullin, 35, has accessed Congress, having already been elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. Democrat Robert Owen, also a member of the Cherokee Nation, represented Oklahoma in the Senate from 1907 to 1925.
Democrat James Roesener becomes the first transgender man to enter a state parliament, that of New Hampshire. The transgender community had made history in American politics before, but they were transgender women. The victory of Roesener, 26-year-old bisexual and married to a woman, will serve to encourage many transgender people to pursue a political career, says the Victory Fund organization, which promotes candidacies from members of the LGTBI community. "Transgender people, and transgender men in particular, continue to be seriously underrepresented in positions of public responsibility at all levels," says the association.
