In a massive blue wave so sweeping that Donald Trump could only stop on a dime to start blaming his hand-picked Republican candidates for losing so decisively, Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections yesterday. With votes still being counted in many western states, the final tally won’t be known for possibly days to come — but as of this morning Democratic candidates have flipped at least 7 seats in the Senate and secured 25 pickups in the House.

Not only was it a night of undeniably forceful repudiation of Trump and the GOP’s governance over the past 2 years, but also a night signaling demographic and generational change in the United States. James Talarico will take the title of youngest serving Senator as he heads to Washington DC to represent Texas — the first time the Lone Star state has sent a Democrat to the Senate since before Talarico was born — grabbing the baton from Jon Ossoff, re-elected handily for a second term as the senior Senator from Georgia.

Elsewhere, many other historic firsts unfolded across the country — including 4 states electing their first ever Black governors, a number that exceeds the totality of Black governors ever elected prior to this year. With potentially more still to come, we’re kicking off this list of historic firsts in American politics and hoping to add more in the coming days as the final races are called:

National firsts

• Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), Georgia governor: the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history, and Georgia’s first governor of color.
• Deb Haaland (D), New Mexico governor: the first Native American woman elected governor.
• Peggy Flanagan (D), Minnesota Senate: the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
• Chris Pappas (D), New Hampshire Senate: the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate.
• Abdul El-Sayed (D), Michigan Senate: the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
• Josh Turek (D), Iowa Senate: the first Paralympian elected U.S. Senator.
• Byron Donalds (R), Florida governor: Florida’s first Black governor, and CBS Miami calls him the first Black Republican elected governor in U.S. history.
• Juliana Stratton (D), Illinois Senate: makes Illinois the first state represented by two women of color in the Senate, alongside Tammy Duckworth.
• Georgia and Florida together: with Bottoms and Donalds, two Deep South states will be governed by Black leaders at the same time for the first time.

State firsts

• Gina Hinojosa (D), Texas governor: Texas’s first Latina governor.
• Aaron Ford (D), Nevada governor: Nevada’s first Black governor.
• Amy Acton (D), Ohio governor: Ohio’s first woman governor.
• Amy Klobuchar (D), Minnesota governor: Minnesota’s first woman governor.
• Marsha Blackburn (R), Tennessee governor: Tennessee’s first woman governor.
• David Crowley (D), Wisconsin governor: Wisconsin’s first Black governor.
• Annie Andrews (D), South Carolina Senate: the first woman elected to the Senate from South Carolina. Darline Graham, whom she beat, was appointed, not elected.
• Denise Powell (D), NE-02: the first woman and first Latina elected to represent the district.
• Phil Scott (R), Vermont governor: a record sixth term.

Long droughts ended

• Kansas Senate (Adam Hamilton): the first Democrat Kansas has elected to the Senate since 1932.
• Texas governor (Hinojosa): the first Democrat elected governor since Ann Richards in 1990.
• Texas Senate (James Talarico): the first Democratic Senate win in Texas in decades. The last one was Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
• South Carolina Senate (Andrews): the first Democrat South Carolina has elected to the Senate in 28 years.
• Georgia governor (Bottoms): the first time the office has flipped in 24 years, according to NBC.
• Iowa governor (Rob Sand): the first Democrat to win since Chet Culver in 2006.
• Ohio governor (Acton): the first Democrat in 20 years.
• MO-02 (Fred Wellman): the first Democrat to win the seat since 1990.
• WI-01 (Mitchell Berman): the first Democrat to represent the district in more than 30 years.
• UT-01 (Ben McAdams): Utah’s first Democrat in Congress since he left in 2021.