[US Midterm Elections] 'First Ever' Black, Female, and Gen Z Elected Officials Appear... Figures Who Made History

Democratic candidate Wes Moore, the first Black governor of Maryland [Image source=AP News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The U.S. midterm elections held on the 8th (local time) are creating new 'first' records. Maryland is set to have its first Black governor, Massachusetts has elected its first lesbian governor, and Florida has welcomed a 25-year-old 'Generation Z' member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to CNN and other outlets, in the Maryland gubernatorial election, Black Democratic candidate Wes Moore was elected. Republican Governor Larry Hogan, well known as the 'Korean son-in-law,' was term-limited and could not run for re-election, leaving the seat open for Moore. He is Maryland's first Black governor and the third Black governor in U.S. history to be elected through a popular vote.

Moore is a Rhodes Scholar and an Afghanistan war veteran who previously served as CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based anti-poverty organization. President Joe Biden, along with First Lady Jill Biden, visited Maryland the day before the election for a final campaign rally to support Moore.

In Massachusetts, a candidate who publicly identified as a lesbian was elected governor for the first time in U.S. history. Maura Healey, the Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General elected as governor, is also the first woman governor elected in the Commonwealth.

Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the first female governor of Arkansas [Photo by AP]

Arkansas also saw its first female governor. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House Press Secretary during former President Donald Trump's administration, defeated Democratic candidate Chris Jones to become governor. She is also the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served as Arkansas governor from 1996 to 2007, marking the first time in U.S. history that a father and daughter have both been elected governor of the same state.

In Florida's 10th congressional district, 25-year-old Democratic candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost was elected as the first Generation Z member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was active in the 'March for Our Lives,' organized mainly by survivors of the 2018 Parkland High School shooting in Florida, advocating for stronger gun control.

In Oklahoma, an American Indian senator was elected for the first time in over a century. Republican candidate Markwayne Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is the first American Indian senator in 20 years. Previously, Oklahoma-born American Indian Senator Robert Owen, a Democrat, served from 1907 to 1925.