Big Blue Wave

Here’s one way of accounting for how your votes not only created a Blue Wave, but how these 21 individuals represent a new breed of leaders. Nine firsts in Governor’s races sweeping across the country from New York to Nebraska to California, along with six firsts in Congress, while in the Senate three firsts and another fourthat represent the how voters are transforming the Democratic party.

GOVERNORS

First Black man, Wisconsin: David Crowley

First Black woman, Georgia: Keisha Lance Bottoms

First Black man, Nevada: Aaron Ford

First Indigenous, Laguna Pueblo, woman, New Mexico: Deb Haaland

First Hispanic/Latina, Texas: Gina Hinojosa

First modern Hispanic/Latino, California: Xavier Becerra

First woman and physician, Ohio: Amy Acton

First woman, Minnesota: Amy Klobuchar

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

First Black woman, New York: Adrienne Adams

CONGRESS PEOPLE

First Indigenous, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, woman from New York: Claire Valdez

First Gen Z, Black woman, Colorado: Melat Kiros

First Muslim from New Jersey: Adam Hamawy

First openly gay man, Michigan: Jeremy Moss

First Hispanic from Nebraska: Denise Powell

SENATORS

First Muslim and physician, Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed

First Indigenous woman, White Earth Band of Ojibwe, from Minnesota: Peggy Flanagan

First openly gay man, New Hampshire: Chris Pappas

Christian seminarian, Texas: James Talarico

Christian pastor, Kansas: Adam Hamilton

Paralyzed man with spina bifida, Iowa: Josh Turk

Physician and woman, South Carolina: Annie Andrews

On the other side of the aisle are two firsts with Tennessee’s woman governor, Marsha Blackburn, and Florida’s Black governor, Byron Donalds.

Twenty-one to two is a stark reminder of the size and power of the Blue Wave suggesting a rebirth of moral values and shared dreams across America.