Democrats Win Historic Firsts in 2026 U.S. Midterms
Democrats made big gains in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, the national votes held at the midpoint of a president's term, and the results include a number of firsts. Among the winners is Chris Pappas, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from New Hampshire. The Senate is the upper chamber of Congress. Pappas is the first openly gay U.S. senator in the country's history, according to Al Jazeera.
Several Democrats were elected governors, the top officials of their states. Deb Haaland won the governorship of New Mexico. A member of the Laguna Pueblo, she became the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any U.S. state. Haaland previously served as U.S. secretary of the interior under President Joe Biden.
In Texas, Gina Hinojosa was elected governor and became the first Hispanic woman to hold the office. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governorship and became the first Black woman to serve as governor anywhere in the United States. Bottoms is a former mayor of Atlanta. In Ohio, Amy Acton was elected governor and became the state's first female governor.
In the Senate, three Democrats, Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, will serve as three Black women in the chamber in the next term, a combination that has not occurred before. Al Jazeera reported the same arrangement.
In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews was elected to the U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that she is the first Democrat in decades to win a Senate seat in the state.
