U.S. midterm elections: Here are the Black candidates making history

This U.S. midterm election already made history thanks to how diverse the candidates running was. For the first time, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people ran for office in all 50 states. The number of such candidates on the ballot also went up by 18 percent from 2020, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.

On Tuesday, some candidates won and made history in the process. CNN reports that Republicans are elated about growing their roster of female governors and bringing in more Latino members to the US House while Democrats are looking at LGBTQ representation in governor’s offices.

Here is a list of some Black candidates making history across the country on Election Day as results are still coming in:

Wes Moore

Democrat Wes Moore has made history as Maryland’s first Black governor. The 44-year-old political newcomer is only the third Black governor elected in the nation’s history, with the other two being Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Douglas Wilder of Virginia. Speaking to supporters Tuesday evening, Moore said: “It is not lost on me that I’ve made some history here tonight. But I also know I’m not the first one to try.

“I am humbled to be a part of this legacy. That’s not why we got into this race. The history that matters most to us is the history that we and the people of this state are going to make over the next four years.” Moore is a former head of the anti-poverty organization Robin Hood and an author.

Maxwell Frost

Democrat Maxwell Frost will represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District, making him the first Democratic member of Congress from Gen Z — those born after 1996 — to win a seat in Congress. The 25-year-old is also the first Afro-Cubano to go to Congress. 

Shirley Weber

CNN projects that Democrat Shirley Weber will be California’s first elected Black secretary of state. Weber is a former state assemblywoman who has been in this position since last year after she was chosen by Newsom to succeed Padilla, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate.

Stephanie Thomas

Democrat Stephanie Thomas will be the first Black woman elected secretary of state of Connecticut, CNN projects. A member of the Connecticut House, Thomas will succeed appointed Democratic incumbent Mark Kohler.

Anthony Brown

CNN projects that Anthony Brown will be the first Black person elected attorney general of Maryland. Brown at the moment represents Maryland’s 5th Congressional District. He has served as state lieutenant governor and in the state House and run for governor in 2014.

Andrea Campbell

Democrat Andrea Campbell will be the first Black woman elected attorney general of Massachusetts, CNN projects. Campbell was previously the first Black female president of the Boston City Council and ran for Boston mayor last year.

Austin Davis

Democrat Austin Davis will be the first Black lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, CNN projects. He is currently a member of the Pennsylvania House representing a Pittsburgh-area seat. 

Summer Lee

CNN projects that Democrat Summer Lee, a Pittsburgh-area state representative, will be the first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania, winning election to the state’s 12th Congressional District. Lee will retire Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle.