On the Ballot: Meet the history-making winners of the 2026 elections

Democrats dominated and won back control of both the House and Senate in the blue wave of their dreams with stunning flips in red Texas, Kansas, Iowa and beyond.

It was the most expensive midterm cycle on record and shattered midterm turnout benchmarks in key states. In many races, Democrats notched their first win in eons: James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa won the Senate and governorship in Texas after decades of blue losses, and Kansas flipped in the Senate race for the first time in almost a century.

But the midterm elections were historic for another reason: voters elected barrier-breaking candidates to Congress and other top positions.

Here are a few of the standout firsts of the 2026 elections:

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated President Trump -backed Mike Rogers in Michigan’s marquee Senate race, becoming the first Muslim American elected to the Senate.

Born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, El-Sayed weathered attacks against his background from Republicans who sought to question his loyalty to the U.S. Rogers raised alleged links between the Democrat and the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that El-Sayed has disavowed . Trump labeled the Democrat as a “violent terrorist” and called him by his middle name, “Mohamed.”

Four Muslim Americans serve in the House, according to data from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), but El-Sayed will be sworn in as the first in the Senate.

Several Native American men have served in the upper chamber, including current Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin , but Democrat Peggy Flanagan ’s Tuesday victory for Minnesota Senate makes her the first Native American woman to join the ranks.

A citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, she’d already made her mark as the first Native American woman elected to lead any national political party committee in 2023, chairing the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association.

Rep.-elect Melat Kiros (D) sailed through the election for Rep. Diana DeGette’s (D-Colo.) House seat in Colorado after defeating the longtime incumbent in the primary.

Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist who was not even born when DeGette started serving in Washington, is on track to be sworn in as the first Gen-Z woman in Congress .

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) became the first male member of Generation Z in the House when he was elected at age 25 in 2022.

Meanwhile, Rep.-elect Michael Alfonso (R) of Wisconsin’s 7 th District, left open by Rep. Tom Tiffany (R), will become the youngest member of the next congressional class. He’s 26 years old, and the first Gen Z Republican in Congress.

Rep. Chris Pappas (D) defeated former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) in the Granite State and is on track to be the Senate’s first openly gay male senator.

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) was the first openly gay member elected to the upper chamber when she won her seat in 2012. There are more LGBTQ lawmakers in the House, with 11 members breaking the record for representation four years ago, according to Pew Research of the current Congress.

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland made history in 2021 when she became the first Indigenous woman to hold a cabinet position in the White House. She’s charting another first after becoming the first Native American woman to be elected a governor.

The Democrat won New Mexico’s race on Tuesday alongside Lt. Gov.-elect Stephanie Garcia Richard , marking the first all-women-of-color gubernatorial ticket, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governor’s mansion in Georgia, becoming the nation’s first Black female governor.

She beat out Republican billionaire Rick Jackson for the seat and is also set to become the first Democrat to hold the Peach State’s top office in over two decades. She’ll also be governor of the state where her great-great grandparents were once enslaved, according to family history she shared to social media.

More candidates made history in their states Democrat Amy Acton will be Ohio’s first female governor. Republican Marsha Blackburn was voted in as the first female governor in Tennessee. Democrat Xavier Becerra will be California’s first Latino governor in more than a century.

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds in Florida, Democrat Aaron Ford of Nevada and Democrat David Crowley in Wisconsin are set to be the first Black governors of their respective states.

Illinois is now the first state with two women of color in the Senate at once after Democrat Juliana Stratton , the lieutenant governor who will now become the sixth Black woman to serve in the upper chamber, won her race and joins Sen. Tammy Duckworth , who was the first Thai American elected to Congress when she won in 2012.

A record three Black women will serve at the same time in the Senate for the first time, with Stratton joining Democratic Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.).

It was a record year for women candidates, according to CAWP, with more women set to serve in Congress and in statewide elected office than ever before.

Welcome to The Hill’s On The Ballot. If you were able to get five or more consecutive hours of sleep between Wednesday and Thursday, count yourself a star. (We’re not sharing our sleep scores with you here, this is our newsletter.) We’re Julia Mueller and Caroline Vakil — reach out to us on X ( @jmthewriter + @CarolineVakil) or via email ( jmueller@thehill.com + cvakil@thehill.com.)

The turnout numbers coming in across the country spell out a historic night, with voters smashing records in some of the cycle’s most critical battlegrounds.

More than 50 million ballots were cast during early voting, outpacing the last midterms in states with major Senate fights, according to analysis from the New York Times, including Texas, North Carolina, Michigan and Ohio.

Texans broke their state’s early-voting record with 7.7 million ballots cast, compared to 5.5 million in 2022, marking the biggest turnout jump. Another 2.8 million people voted early in each of North Carolina and Georgia, up from 2.2 million and 2.5 million in 2022, respectively.

In a hint of what was to come for Democrats, early and mail votes were bluer this year than they were in 2024, according to a DDHQ breakdown.

In North Carolina, early ballots broke for Republicans by one point in 2024, but for Democrats by 12 points this year, a 13-point swing as Democrat Roy Cooper won the state. Early votes in Kansas broke for Republicans by 18 points in 2024 but just one point this year, a 17-point difference as Democrat Adam Hamilton flipped the red stronghold.

Election Day ballots added fuel to the blue wave and broke more records in key states.

Voters in South Carolina, where Democrat Annie Andrews pulled off a Senate race upset, hit the state’s highest levels of participation in decades for both the total ballots cast and the percentage of registered voters participating.

Minnesota, Maine and Michigan also broke records for ballots cast in a non-presidential year. Missouri also appeared headed toward a milestone as votes rolled in.

Democrats from New Hampshire to Wisconsin are on track to make massive inroads in state legislatures across the country, as the party’s runs up wins up and down the ballot. Here’s more from Caroline.

The massive Democratic victories seen across the country on Tuesday are standing to shake up the 2028 presidential landscape as Republicans reckon with their post-Trump future. The Hill’s Julia Manchester and Mallory Wilson report.

Democrats exceeded even their own expectations in a big night Tuesday to coast to comfortable majorities in both the House and Senate, The Hill’s Jared Gans reports.

As the midterm cycle draws to a close and we look to 2028, here’s a roundup of what fueled candidates, strategists and experts on the campaign trail.

South Carolina Sen.-elect Annie Andrews (D) was reading “Winn Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo with her daughter — while rival outgoing Sen. Darline Graham had just read “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Abom. Independent Dan Osborn , who fell short against Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) in Nebraska, had just finished “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn.

Melat Kiros , the Democrat replacing incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette (D) in Colorado’s 1st District, favored iced matcha. Republican Billionaire Rick Jackson , who lost his bid for Georgia governor, was getting energy from a “quad latte” from Starbucks. Democratic Gov.-elect Hannah Pingree in Maine, was fueling up with “straight-up coffee.”

Kyle Kondik , the managing editor at Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said it was “important for my health” to have cheese on hand as he analyzed this year’s elections. Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.), a former Republican who lost his bid for a third term as an independent, had popcorn on deck.

What album or podcast do you have on repeat?

Democratic Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan was listening to politics and policy podcasts, including “Ones and Tooze” and “The Rest is Politics.” His across-the-aisle competitor, Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers , on the other hand, was “more of a radio guy,” tuning into WJR and true crime on Dateline or Red Eye Radio. Democrat David Hogg, who leads the Leaders We Deserve PAC, was playing Pink Pantheress’s “Fancy That.”

What TV show are you watching right now?

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was “very excited” for the next season of Apple TV’s “Slow Horses.” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Florida’s next governor, was about to start season three of Apple TV’s “Silo.” Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, was tuned into “Ghosts” on CBS.

Democrats routed Republicans in the House and clawed back the Senate majority. But that’s not all: Democrats also dominated statewide races that could be key to shaping the national political landscape through the end of Trump’s second term and beyond.

Five governor’s mansions are projected to flip blue with two more on the horizon as of late Wednesday , which could deprive Republicans of any gubernatorial gains this cycle.

The Democratic momentum also reverberated through attorneys general races, with a stunning upset in Texas.

Democrat Nathan Johnson emerged the victor over Trump-backed Republican Mayes Middleton, flipping a seat that current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton held for three terms before opting for an unsuccessful Senate bid this year instead of seeking a fourth term.

The flip is poised to be a dramatic shift for the Lone Star State office, which aggressively pursued legal action against the Obama and Biden administrations and, under Paxton, was criticized as too politicized.

In Georgia, Democrat Tanya Miller flipped the AG’s office and became the first woman to serve in the role in Peach State history. And in Iowa, Democrat Nate Willems took the office from Republican incumbent Brenna Bird.

Democratic attorneys general have been a key force in the party’s resistance to the Trump administration, and this year’s AG upsets, paired with Democratic wins up and down ballot, could reshape politics and policy in traditionally red states.

The blue wave also crashed into secretary of state races, with a handful of wins that make Democrats the top election officials in important 2028 battlegrounds.

In Georgia, Democrat Penny Reynolds will take over from Republican SOS Brad Raffenspberger, who drew Trump’s ire for resisting his calls to overturn the Peach State’s 2020 results. In Ohio, Democrat Allison Russo will succeed outgoing Republican SOS Frank LaRose.

Democrats also broke through GOP trifectas in state Legislatures across the country, winning the majorities in at least 10 state chambers, including the long-red Texas House – all signs that the party’s sought-after blue wave turned out to be a blue tsunami.

Nov. 5: George Washigton University hosts election post-mortem with Rep. Haley Stevens and Democratic strategist Morris Katz.

Nov. 12-14: Democrats hold “What’s Next” conference in Denver, Colo.

Dec. 12: Louisiana holds House runoff elections for 5 th and 6 th district races

Voters set $400 million of Elon Musk’s money on fire ( WIRED )

How Tuesday’s elections could lead to the president getting elected by popular vote ( The Downballot )

Democrats gain ground in Texas House amid generational wave, putting majority within reach ( Texas Tribune )

AI chatbots cited dozens of spoofed campaign websites ahead of midterms, researchers say ( NBC News )

Alabama’s first transgender lawmaker: ‘I’m going to work for those who hate me’ ( AL.com )