WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters elected two Black women to serve simultaneously in the Senate for the first time, sending an openly transgender lawmaker to Congress on Tuesday. They are among historic picks in nearly a dozen races that show Americans prefer more diverse representation despite issues like affirmative action and LGBTQ inclusion that have led to deeper divisions.

Lisa Blunt of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland won their races, doubling the number of Black women elected to the Senate from two to four. And Delaware voters elected Sarah McBride in an at-large race for the House of Representatives, making her the first transgender person elected to Congress.

The victories came in an election year defined in part by historic firsts.

“Marking these milestones does two things: First, we celebrate the increasing diversity we see in women’s political representation, whether at the state or national level,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. .

“But it also reminds us that we have more work to do,” Dittmar said, noting that U.S. women overall are not equally represented in elected office, and that Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans, as well as Native Americans, lag behind their share of the population.

Other historic firsts in the Senate on Tuesday include New Jersey’s Andy Kim, who became the first Asian American elected to represent the Garden State in the Senate and also the first Korean American elected to the Senate. Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno became the first Latino to represent the state.

Black women make history in the US Senate

Never have two Black women served in the Senate at the same time. Kamala Harris was the second Black woman and the first South Asian woman to serve in the Senate before being elected vice president. From 2021 to 2023, there was no Black female representation in the legislature until California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to a vacancy created by the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Blunt Rochester, a Democrat who currently represents Delaware’s congressional district at large, became the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate. Alsobrooks, a Democrat and former executive of Prince George’s County in Maryland, is also the first Black woman to represent her state in the Senate.

“It’s remarkable to think that America will be celebrating its 250th birthday in two years,” Alsobrooks said in his victory speech Tuesday evening. “And over all these years, more than 2,000 people have served in the United States Senate. Only three of them looked like me.”

“And I want to salute everyone who came before me, who allowed me to stand on this stage tonight, and whose sacrifices and stories I will continue to carry with me,” he added, to cheers from supporters.

Their victory increased the number of Black members in the Senate to five; this was the largest number of members serving together in history. Yet the Senate’s 100 members have historically been and continue to be mostly white men.

“We increased the representation of black women in the Senate by 100%,” said Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People, a national organizing center for recruiting and electing women of color in politics.

“I’ve been in electoral politics for 30 years, and for the vast majority of that time, Black women have played a huge role as voters and organizers, but they’ve mostly been defeated by our fellow Democrats in the primaries because we’re unelectable,” Allison said.

“This is a testament to the evolution of Black women as political actors in this country,” Allison added. “Some of the things that baffle us are embedded in a system that keeps Black women out of the Senate. We’ve found additional ways to be successful.”

House will get its first transgender member

McBride, a Democratic state senator in Delaware, had already made history in 2020 when she was named the only openly transgender state senator in the country. This follows increased national recognition for McBride, who became the first transgender speaker to address a major party convention during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Her rise to Congress comes at a time when transgender issues have proven divisive in American politics. From banning biological men from playing in sports for women and girls to banning LGBTQ-themed books to debates about gender-affirming pronouns and gender-neutral bathrooms, the visibility of transgender people in politics can keep these issues at the forefront of discussions about acceptance. and tolerance.

After winning his primary in September, McBride said he was running for Congress not to make history but to “make historic progress for Delawareans.”

Advocates welcome progress but note work ahead for representation

In the 50 years since the Center for American Women and Politics began tracking gender equality and racial diversity in politics, progress generally comes as Democrats do better in the election cycle.

“We haven’t seen the same level of gains in the Republican Party,” said Kelly, the center’s research director. “It’s clear that this is a one-sided story. “And if we want to achieve gender parity in elected office, it’s going to be difficult to do it just numerically on one side of the aisle.”

The youngest generation of future American voters may not always see racial and gender diversity as very important if long-standing issues of social and economic inequality are not addressed by their parents’ generation, Allison said.

“You can’t just have an argument about representation,” he said. “It’s hard to do because it’s not enough. The first step in creating this multiracial democracy is to create an American government that serves all people.”

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