Over the last couple of days, our nation has watched as many glass ceilings been broken in our Midterm Elections…from both sides of the aisle. Inclusive America has compiled a list of these elected officials below:

• Federal Level:
  • Alex Padilla is the first elected Latino senator from California. Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrant parents, was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the seat Kamala Harris vacated when she became vice president.
  • Maxwell Frost of Florida will become the first Gen Z member of Congress.
  • Katie Britt is the first woman elected to the US Senate from Alabama.
  • Peter Welch is the first senator elected in Vermont who was born after World War II.
  • Summer Lee is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania.
  • Becca Balint is the first woman elected to Congress from Vermont — marking the last state in the country to send a woman to Congress.  Balint is also the first openly gay person to represent the state.
  • Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, is the first LGBTQ immigrant elected to Congress.
  • George Santos of New York is the first openly gay Republican who was out at the time of his first election to Congress.
  • Delia Ramirez, the Democratic winner in Illinois’s Third District, is the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress from the state.
  • Markwayne Mullin, a Republican elected to the US Senate from Oklahoma, will be the first Native American senator in nearly two decades and the first Native American senator from Oklahoma in a century.
  • Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat, will be the first Latina elected to Congress from Colorado.
  • Eric Sorensen, a Democract, will be the first out gay person elected to Congress from Illinois.
  • John James, will be the first Black Republican elected to Congress from Michigan.
  • Shri Thanedar, a Democrat, will be the first Indian American elected to Congress from Michigan.
  • Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat, will be the first Latina elected to Congress from Washington state.

• State Level:
  • Tina Kotek of Oregon is one of two first out lesbians elected to a governorship in the country.
  • Maura Healey of Massachusetts is one of two first out lesbians elected to a governorship in the country.
  • Andrea Campbell, a Democrat who won the race for Massachusetts attorney general, is the first Black woman elected to statewide executive office in Massachusetts.
  • Wes Moore, a Democrat, will be the first Black governor of Maryland — and only the third black governor in US history.
  • Aruna Miller is the first woman of color to be elected lieutenant governor of Maryland, and the first Asian American woman elected to any statewide executive office in Maryland.
  • Anthony Brown, will be the first Black person elected attorney general of Maryland.
  • Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican,  is the first woman elected as governor in Arkansas.
  • Leslie Rutledge, a Republican, will be the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
  • Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, the first female governor of New York, is now also the first woman to be elected governor of New York.
  • Leigh Finke, a Democrat, is the first transgender person elected to the Minnesota Legislature
  • Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, will be the first transgender state legislator in Montana.
  • Erick Russell, a Democrat who will be Connecticut’s next state treasurer, is the first openly gay Black person elected to any statewide executive office.
  • James Roesener, a New Hampshire Democrat, is the first transgender man elected to a state legislature. (A few transgender women and nonbinary people have been elected before.)
  • Shirley Weber, a Democrat, will be California’s first elected Black secretary of state.
  • Rob Bonta, a Democrat, will beCalifornia’s first elected Filipino American attorney general.
  • Stephanie Thomas, a Democrat, will be the first Black woman elected secretary of state of Connecticut.
  • Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, will be the first Latino elected secretary of state of Nevada.
  • Austin Davis, a Democrat, will be the first Black lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.
  • Charity Clark, a Democrat, will be the first woman elected attorney general of Vermont.

• At the macro level:
  • At least 12 women will serve as governor in 2023, a new record. The previous record was nine, set in 2004. Arkansas and Massachusetts will be the first states to have women serving concurrently as governor and lieutenant governor.
  • As of this writing, 135 women will serve in Congress beginning in 2023, according to Rutgers University’s tracker.  That is down from the current number of 147. Several races with women candidates have yet to be called, but still, it’s very possible that the number of women in Congress could decline.
  • When John Fetterman takes office in January, 10% of all US senators will be named John/Jon.
    
    
• There are very clear and important steps for those who won their races can do to make our government more inclusive and more impactful.  They cover both internal and external as well as people and policies.  These four buckets include:

1. Internal-Facing and People-Focused: Ensure Congressional staff look like their district or state.  For example, women make up 51% of our population, therefore ensure you are hiring and promoting the best talent. The Joint Center tracks racial diversity for senior staff in the House and Senate.

2. Internal-Facing and Policy-Focused: Make sure members of Congress have pay equity, living wages, have sexual harassment policies, etc. so that the best people serving their distrcit or state can focus on delivering for their constituents instead of addressing inequities in the office.
   • For those who are US Senators: Support the establishment of a Bipartisan Senate Diversity and Inclusion Office to Improve Staff Diversity.  Just as the House of Representatives has done, (https://diversity.house.gov) the Senate should establish a bipartisan Senate Diversity and Inclusion Office that helps Senate offices recruit, hire, train, develop, and retain a diverse workforce, and collects and discloses disaggregated demographic data of all staff.

3. External-Facing and People-Focused: Every US Senator votes on the most powerful positions at the largest employer in our country: the federal government.  Make sure that the President is nominating the best talent, including those from historically underrepresented communities, and not just those who gave money, like our Ambassadors.  This is especially important after the midterm elections since historically there is a large amount of vacancies for politically appointed positions. Check out our DEI Tracker & Scorecard: https://inclusiveamerica.org/scorecard.

4. External-Facing and Policy-Focused: There are a handful of policies we are focused on that require members of Congress.  First and easiest, is to request a diversity report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for those dozen or so departments that have yet to do so.  Second, hold hearings on the status of diversity efforts in various Departments or agencies.  Hold those in leadership accountable to their pledges to do more.  Third, co-sponsor and vote on bills to make our government more representative: the PLUM Act (which is close to passing) and the State Department Diversity Act.