From the first openly lesbian governor to the first Generation Z member-elect of Congress, early results in the US midterms heralded a good night for diversity.
>> Click here for live results on the US midterms
Maura Healey: First lesbian state governor
In Massachusetts, voters elected Democrat Maura Healey as America's first out lesbian governor, TV networks projected. The 51-year-old defeated Geoff Diehl, who had been endorsed by ex-president Donald Trump, to flip the office from the Republicans.
She said she was "proud" of her historic victory, telling cheering supporters that it sent a message "to every little girl and every LGBTQ person out there, you can be anything you want to be."
Healey will also become Massachusetts' first ever female governor.
Her victory with running mate Kim Driscoll means that women will serve as both governor and lieutenant governor of a state for the first time.
Maxwell Frost: Gen Z
In Florida, Democrat Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress when he won a seat in the US House of Representatives.
The 25-year-old defeated Republican Calvin Wimbish in a district that leans solidly Democratic. "We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future," the African American tweeted.
A former March For Our Lives organiser, Frost ran a campaign seeking stricter gun control laws, abortion rights and expanded healthcare.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: First woman elected Arkansas governor
A familiar face on the national stage after serving as former president Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the first elected woman governor of Arkansas.
Sanders defeated Democratic candidate Chris Jones in her predominantly Republican home state after shattering state fundraising records and earning an early endorsement from Trump.
The 40-year-old Republican is no stranger to the Arkansas governor’s mansion in Little Rock though. Her father, Mike Huckabee, was governor of the state from 1996 to 2007, which makes her the first daughter to serve as governor of a state her father once led.
Wes Moore: Maryland’s first black governor
Democrat Wes Moore was elected Maryland’s first Black governor after defeating Republican Dan Cox in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
Moore is only the third Black governor elected in the nation’s 246-year history following Virginia’s Douglas Wilder in 1989, and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts in 2006.
With his victory, Moore flipped the Maryland governor’s office from Republican to Democratic.
A combat veteran and former CEO of one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organisations, Moore campaigned on creating equal opportunity for Maryland residents.
Katie Britt: Alabama’s first female senator
Republican Katie Britt won the seat held by Richard Shelby, her one-time boss who is retiring after 35 years in the Senate. Britt was Shelby’s chief of staff before leaving to take the helm of a state business lobby.
She defeated Democrat Will Boyd and Libertarian John Sophocleus.
Britt, 40, cast herself as part of a new generation of conservative leaders and will become one of the Senate’s youngest members. She will be the first Republican woman to hold one of the state’s Senate seats. The state’s previous female senators, both Democrats, had been appointed.
James Roesener: First transgender state lawmaker
New Hampshire, meanwhile, became the first in US history to elect a transgender man to a state legislature, the Washington Post reported.
Democrat James Roesener was one of a record number of trans candidates on the ballot this year.
Roesener won't become the first openly trans lawmaker as a number of transgender women have been elected before.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
