(WASHINGTON) — The 2022 midterm elections are expected to make history with their candidates: As vote counting wraps up across the country, ABC News projects that residents in several states will elect their first female, minority, LGTBQ and Gen Z candidates to state and federal offices.
Maura Healey is projected to be a “first” in multiple ways with her victory in the Massachusetts governor’s race.
The Democrat, who currently serves as the state’s attorney general, will not only be the state’s first woman and first openly lesbian elected governor, she will also be the first openly lesbian governor in U.S. history.
In Maryland, Democrat Wes Moore is projected to beat Republican Dan Cox and became the state’s first Black governor. Moore is an author, former Army captain and nonprofit CEO.
Republican Katie Britt is projected to become the first Alabama woman elected to the U.S. Senate; she was running against Democrat Will Boyd.
Britt, an attorney and businesswoman, previously served as the chief of staff to retired Sen. Richard Shelby.
Another female senator in Alabama, Dixie Bibb Graves, was appointed by her husband, Gov. Bibb Graves, to fill a vacancy and served for a few months in the 1930s.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is projected to be Arkansas’ first female governor by defeating Democrat Chris Jones. Sanders previously served as President Donald Trump’s press secretary and is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is projected to become New York’s first female elected governor in the state’s history when she defeats Rep. Lee Zeldin in a highly watched race. Hochul assumed office last year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace following an investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations. (Cuomo denied intentional wrongdoing.)
Congress is also projected to be getting its first Gen Z member when it begins its new term in January: Maxwell Frost, a 25-year-old progressive activist, will win his bid to represent Florida’s 10th District.
Frost will defeat Calvin Wimbish to fill the seat left open by Rep. Val Demings, who ran for Senate against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio.
Karoline Leavitt, a Republican running in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, may join Frost as another Gen Z lawmaker. She is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
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