Latino, Black, Muslim, Native: Voters chose diversity in midterm election

Latino, Black, Muslim, Native: Voters chose diversity in midterm election.

Key points

• The winner in Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, becomes the nation's first Black female governor.
• He ordered the National Park Service to remove the rainbow-colored Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument.
• Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan physician who triumphed to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, faced Islamophobic and racist attacks during the brutal campaign.
• Annie Andrews endured harsh criticism from Trump to pull off one of the night's most stunning Senate upsets.

Latino, Black, Muslim, Native: Voters chose diversity in midterm election. Michael Collins USA TODAY. These candidates created history in the 2026 midterm elections.

For context, the 2026 midterm elections created history for a number of candidates as voters elected the country's first gay and Muslim senators, against the backdrop of other firsts. WASHINGTON – On election night, America chose diversity.

In practice, the blue tsunami that swept Democrats back into power in Congress in the Nov. 3 midterm elections additionally carried to victory candidates with a diverse tapestry of racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Voters reshaped the Senate by electing a Methodist minister from Kansas, a Presbyterian seminarian in Texas, a Muslim physician from Michigan, a Native American in Minnesota, and, for the first time ever, an openly gay man from New Hampshire.

In the House, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries was elected for the eighth time to represent his New York congressional district – a victory that puts him on course to become the first Black speaker in January.

And, in other firsts, voters chose Black governors in Georgia, Florida and Wisconsin, a Latino governor in California, a Latina governor in Texas, and a Native American woman as governor in New Mexico. The winner in Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, becomes the nation's first Black female governor.

Meanwhile, the election of candidates from such varied backgrounds comes after two years of President Donald Trump and his administration erasing diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout the federal administration and in private and academic institutions.

"Americans spoke loudly and clearly that we still value diversity, even if the Trump administration does not, " remarked Shaun Harper, a University of Southern California professor who has researched and written concerning diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. USA TODAY's Susan Page breaks down key midterm election races.

Can the GOP avert disaster in the midterm elections, or will it be a blue tsunami for Democrats? Here are five key races to watch.

Notably, the past couple of years have been tough times for individuals who believe in inclusion.

On the first day of his second term, Trump set out to terminate DEI policies, programs and preferences throughout the federal administration. He shut down DEI offices, put their workers on leave, canceled DEI training programs and took down administration web pages focused on diversity. He was just getting began.

His administration opened investigations into more than 50 universities and threatened them with funding cuts in a pressure campaign to force them to dismantle DEI programs, drop race-based scholarships and alter admissions and hiring practices. More: How Lockheed Martin's bonus program triggered federal diversity probe.

He revoked federal civil rights and non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, barred transgender Americans from serving in the military and prohibited transgender women from participating in female sports in public schools, colleges and universities.

He ordered the National Park Service to remove the rainbow-colored Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument. It commemorates a 1969 clash in New York City between police and LGBTQ+ bar patrons that sparked the modern gay-rights movement. The administration eventually relented and allowed the flag to be returned as part of a settlement with a coalition of nonprofit groups that sued.

While America clearly voted for diversity, "I'm not prepared to say that it's a profound shift in America's racial, ethnic, religious dynamics in some deep way. Since we just don't know, " stated Jennifer Hochschild, a professor of administration and of African and African-American studies at Harvard.

More: The midterms are reshaping the landscape for Trump and Democrats. What's next? Cultural problems still divided voters in some states.

Voters in Arizona and Nebraska approved measures to ban trans athletes from participating in school sports. Votes on similar measures in Colorado and Washington state are still being counted. More: Republicans win on Trump culture war priority: transgender athletes.

"I am a proponent of democracy, and I respect that people voted with their values – even if their values are misaligned with mine, " Harper remarked.

Virginia voters, by contrast, stripped a two-decade-old ban on same-sex marriage from the state constitution. After the U.S, a number of other states repealed similar constitutional bans over recent years. Supreme Court's decision in 2015 that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

More: Data centers were on the ballot throughout the nation. They obtained crushed.

Some of the candidates who won in this week's midterms endured a vitriolic assault on their religion or beliefs.

Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan physician who triumphed to become the first Muslim elected to the Senate, faced Islamophobic and racist attacks during the brutal campaign. Trump called him a jihadist and remarked Congress would need a special metal detector if he was elected.

From January through August, El-Sayed was named in more than 38, 000 anti-Muslim posts on social media, according to the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a Washington-based nonprofit.

In South Carolina, Dr. Annie Andrews endured harsh criticism from Trump to pull off one of the night's most stunning Senate upsets. Her Republican opponent, Darline Graham, running in place of her late brother Lindsey Graham, ran ads condemning her over her past comments on transgender problems, and Trump mocked her by attaching an anti-transgender slur to her name.

But when the votes were counted, the winners looked a lot like America.

Michael Collins writes regarding the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X: @mcollinsNEWS. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

Taken together, the developments around latino, Black, Muslim, Native: Voters chose diversity in midterm election point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.