Sarah McBride becomes 1st openly transgender member of Congress: A look at history being made in the 2024 election
The 2024 election is making history. Sarah McBride will be the first openly transgender member of Congress. U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester will be the first woman and first Black woman to represent Delaware in the Senate. With Democrat Angela Alsobrooks also winning her race in Maryland, this marks the first time that the country will have two Black women serving in the Senate together. We’re already making history — and the election’s not over yet.
U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester becomes the 1st woman and 1st Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate
Rochester, a 62-year-old Democrat, defeated Republican Eric Hansen in Delaware’s U.S. Senate race on Tuesday. She will fill the seat that opened up after Democrat Tom Carper said he would retire last year. Carper reportedly handpicked her as his successor. Rochester was also personally endorsed by Delaware native President Biden on Oct. 27.
U.S. Rep. Andy Kim becomes the 1st Korean American elected to the Senate
Kim defeated his opponent, Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw, winning the seat vacated by Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned in August following his conviction on bribery charges. Kim, 42, shared in a recent interview that this accomplishment “would validate his parents’ decision 50 years ago to immigrate to the United States,” the Associated Press reports. This isn’t the first time Kim has made history. After defeating a Republican incumbent in 2018, he became New Jersey’s first Asian American elected to Congress.
Sarah McBride becomes the 1st openly transgender person elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
The 34-year-old Democrat defeated Republican John Whalen in Tuesday's general election.
McBride became the first openly transgender state senator in American history when she was elected in 2020. “Whenever you are first, you often have to try to be the best version that you can,” she said in a recent Reuters interview. “But none of them matter if I don’t fulfill the responsibility of just being the best member of Congress that I can be for Delaware.”
Alsobrooks’s and Rochester’s wins mark another Senate 1st
Democrat Angela Alsobrooks won in Maryland, becoming the state’s first Black female senator. The win is significant for another reason: With Rochester becoming the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate, this marks the first time in U.S. history that the country will have two Black women serving in the Senate together.
According to Politico, only three Black women have ever served in the Senate’s history — Kamala Harris and Laphonza Butler, both for California, and Carol Moseley Braun for Illinois. However, they didn’t serve at the same time.
Bernie Moreno becomes the 1st Hispanic and 1st South American-born senator
Moreno, who was born in Colombia, will be Ohio’s first Hispanic senator. The 57-year-old Republican ousted incumbent Sherrod Brown, 71, a Democrat who had represented the state for three terms. The competitive race between the candidates is also notable: It’s been called one of the most expensive Senate races in U.S. history, with spending reaching $500 million.
Julie Johnson is the 1st openly gay representative from the South
Texas has elected Democrat Julie Johnson, 58, making her the first openly LGBTQ person to represent the state. She won the seat in the 32nd Congressional District, which opened up after Democrat Colin Allred ran (and lost) against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. “Everybody needs to be represented and have their voice and their perspective in the conversation of our governmental discourse,” Johnson told People. “We all have to have a seat at the table.”
Julie Fedorchak becomes the 1st woman to represent North Dakota
With Fedorchak’s win, North Dakota is now the second-to-last state to elect a woman to the U.S. House of Representatives (only Mississippi hasn’t). Fedorchak, a 56-year-old Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, beat out Democratic challenger Trygve Hammer. She has served as public service commissioner in North Dakota since 2012.
Emily Randall is now the first openly LGBTQ Latina elected to Congress
Democratic Sen. Randall won the race against opponent state Sen. Drew MacEwen, a Republican, for Washington’s 6th Congressional District. In a statement given on the night of the election, Randall, 39, said this win shatters not one but three glass ceilings. "When I take office in January, I will become the first congresswoman and first person of color to hold this seat, the first openly LGBTQ person to represent Washington state in Congress and the first ever queer Latina member of Congress."