A Historic Start to Tuesdays Elections

Several candidates made history in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan in Tuesday's elections. Here is a list of newly elected state and local candidates who ran historic campaigns:

Abigail Spanberger

Former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia's first female governor. The former CIA officer was first elected to Congress in 2018, holding a seat long held by the Republican Party. She defeated Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who would have been the first Black female governor in U.S. history.

Mikie Sherrill

U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, will be New Jersey's first Democratic female governor. The state's first female governor, Christine Todd Whitman, was a Republican when elected in 1993. Whitman endorsed Sherrill instead of her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli.

Ghazala Hashmi

State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, who immigrated to the United States from India as a child, made history on Tuesday by winning the election for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. She is the first Muslim American woman to be elected statewide in the United States. She first ran for the position in 2019 and became the first Muslim and South Asian American to be elected to the state Senate.

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assembly member and Democratic socialist, will be the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York City. Following her unexpected victory in the Democratic primary in June, Mamdani was able to build on her success, despite criticism from Israel and some voters' apprehensions about her progressive policy platform. The incoming millennial mayor will be the city's youngest mayor in more than a century.

Mary Sheffield

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield will become the city's first female mayor. Sheffield, who is Black, defeated megachurch pastor Solomon Kinloch. She entered the race when three-term mayor Mike Duggan decided not to seek re-election and instead run for governor as an independent candidate.