The historic firsts of Tuesday’s elections
By CNN staff
(CNN) — Several candidates made history during Tuesday’s elections in races in Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Michigan. Here’s a list of the newly elected state and local candidates who ran historic campaigns:
Abigail Spanberger
Former US Rep. Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s first female governor. The former CIA officer was first elected to Congress in 2018, when she flipped control of a longtime Republican-held seat. She defeated Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who would have been the first Black female governor in US history.
Mikie Sherrill
US Rep. 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 she was elected in 1993. Whitman endorsed Sherrill over her Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli.
Ghazala Hashmi
Ghazala Hashmi, a state senator who immigrated to the US from India as a child, made history Tuesday as the first Muslim American woman to be elected statewide in the United States when she won Virginia’s lieutenant governor’s race. She first ran for office in 2019, when she became the first Muslim and South Asian American elected to the state Senate.
Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman and Democratic socialist, will be New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor. After his upset win in a June Democratic primary, Mamdani was able to build on his success despite some voters’ wariness over his criticisms of Israel and his progressive policy platform. The incoming millennial mayor will be the city’s youngest 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 Solomon Kinloch, a megachurch pastor. She entered the race after the incumbent, three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, did not seek reelection and instead decided to run as an independent for governor.
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