Remarkable firsts in the 2018 midterm elections

Laurel Nebosis, Journalist|November 20, 2018

Laurel Nebosis

There were numerous historic first wins in the 2018 midterm elections.

There were many historic first wins on Tuesday, November 6th, across the United States in the 2018 midterm elections.

A record 100+ women were elected to the House of Representatives. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress at 29 years-old. She is a Democrat representing New York’s 14th Congressional District.

Democrats Deb Haaland (New Mexico) and Sharice Davids (Kansas) are the first Native American women elected to Congress. Sharice Davids is also the first openly gay person to represent Kansas.


Ilhan Omar is the first Somali-American in the House of Representatives.

Ilhan Omar won Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District seat and is the first Somali-American to be elected to Congress.

Republican Marsha Blackburn is the first woman to be elected to the Senate in Tennessee.

Rashida Tlaib won Michigan’s 13th congressional district seat, she is the first Palestinian-American in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. They are both Democrats.

Maine elected Janet Mills, a Democrat, as their first woman governor on Tuesday.


Marsha Blackburn is the first female Senator for Tennessee.

Kristi Noem won the governor seat in South Dakota and is now the first female governor. Noem is a Republican.

Democrat Ayanna Pressley won Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district and is the first black woman from Massachusetts to serve in Congress.

Jared Polis won the Governor seat in Colorado and is the first openly gay governor in the United States.


Jared Polis of Colorado is the first openly gay governor.

Democrats Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia of Texas are the first Latinx women to be sent to the House of Representatives.

Ohio voters elected Judge Melody J. Stewart, the first African American women to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Democrat Krysten Sinema narrowly won the Senate race recount in Arizona against her opponent Republican Martha McSally by just 38,197 votes. Sinema will be the first female Senator from Arizona. She is also the first openly bi-sexual person in the Senate.

Thousands of miles away, Democrat Lou Leon Guerrero, became the first woman to be elected governor of Guam.

The results are not in yet about whether or not Stacey Abrams will make history in Georgia by becoming the first African-American governor.