Georgia Elects Nation’s First Black Female Governor

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterms, giving them leverage over President Donald Trump’s agenda for the final two years of his term. The elections produced historic gubernatorial wins: Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor, Florida’s Byron Donalds the state’s first Black governor, Wisconsin’s David Crowley the state’s first Black governor, New Mexico’s Deb Haaland the nation’s first Native American woman governor, Texas’s Gina Hinojosa the nation’s first Latina governor, and Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn the state’s first female governor. Alongside Maryland’s reelected Wes Moore, Bottoms and Donalds mean multiple Black governors will serve at once for the first time. Other milestones included Chris Pappas becoming the first openly gay man elected to the Senate, Abdul El-Sayed the first Muslim senator, Peggy Flanagan the first Indigenous woman elected to the Senate, and Vikki Goodwin becoming Texas’s first woman lieutenant governor. Democrats also won Senate races in South Carolina and North Carolina and reelected Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff; high costs and voters’ desire for checks on Trump shaped the contests.