Meet the Women History-Makers of the Midterms

Maura Healey was elected governor of Massachusetts, becoming the nation's first openly lesbian governor. She was also the state's first woman and first openly gay candidate elected to the office. "I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever you want to be," she said to a crowd in her victory speech. "And nothing and no one can ever get in your way except your own imagination, and that's not going to happen."

Becca Balint is Vermont's first woman and openly gay representative elected to Congress. "Today, we reaffirmed that Vermont, and this nation, is still a place where anything is possible," Balint wrote on Instagram, thanking her constituents. "We're still capable of change and progress. Tonight, after 231 years, Vermonters are sending a woman and openly gay person to Congress for the first time."

Summer Lee won Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, making her the state's first Black congresswoman. She described her campaign as a "multicultural, multi-generational movement" in a speech late Tuesday, adding, "We fought. We built coalitions. We brought together people who had never worked together on campaigns."

Kathy Hochul became the first woman to become governor in New York when Andrew Cuomo resigned in August 2021, but on Election Night, she became the first woman to be formally elected for governor in the state. "The lessons of tonight with this victory, are that given the choice, New Yorkers refuse to go backwards on our long march towards progress," she said in her speech following her defeat of Lee Zeldin.

Andrea Campbell will be Massachusetts's first Black woman attorney general. The politician, who previously ran for Boston mayor in 2020, devoted her victory to "those who have felt unseen" in her speech following her win. "I didn't run to be the first," she said, "but it's not lost on me what this means, not only for Massachusetts, but for our nation."

"We say representation matters, when we win tonight," Campbell continued, "and I'm going to put it out there because we're going to work hard to win, I know what it means for every little girl, or anyone who feels left out and left behind and doesn't envision themselves taking on some leadership role, especially coming from a tragic upbringing."

As the lieutenant governor-elect of Maryland, Aruna Miller will be the first Asian American and Indian American to hold the seat. Miller, who ran alongside Governor Wes Moore, wrote on Twitter, "The moral to this story is, NEVER EVER underestimate the underdogs. And guess what – we'll always look out for the underdogs."

Shirley Weber served as California's secretary of state since she succeeded Alex Padilla in January 2021, but she became the state's first Black person to be elected into the role following the midterms. "I'm honoured by the trust and faith California voters have placed in me," she tweeted after reports projected her win.

Elected as a representative for Illinois's 3rd congressional district, Delia Ramirez will be the first Latina to represent not only the state, but also the midwest, in Congress. "You have seen possibility and potential in me, what I haven't seen in myself," she said during a celebration on Nov. 8.