WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in history, two Black women were elected Tuesday to serve in the U.S. Senate, while voters also sent a transgender lawmaker to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland prevailed in their races, doubling the number of black women ever elected to the Senate: from two to four. Delaware voters also elected Sarah McBride to an at-large House seat, making her the first openly transgender person elevated to Congress.

These historic firsts are among nearly a dozen races that showed Americans electing more diverse representation in elected office, even as issues like affirmative action and LGBTQ inclusion have pushed some supporters further into their ideological corners.

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

“But at the same time, it reminds us that we have more work to do,” Dittmar said, noting that American women in general are not equally represented in elected offices and that black, Hispanic and Asian Americans, as well as Native Americans, are behind their proportion of the population.

Black women make history in the US Senate

Never have two black women served in the Senate at the same time. Kamala Harris was only the second Black woman and first South Asian woman to serve in the Senate, before being elected vice president. From 2021 to 2023, the chamber was without Black female representation until California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to a vacancy created by the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein.

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

Their victories bring the number of black members of the Senate to five, the most in history who have served together. Still, the Senate’s 100 members have historically been, and remain, mostly white men.

“We increased our 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 an enormous role as voters and organizers, but they were defeated, often by fellow Democrats in the primaries, because we were written off as be ineligible,” Allison said.

“It is a testament to the evolution of black women as political protagonists in this country,” Allison added. “Some of the things that stumped us are built into a system that has kept Black women out of the Senate. “We have discovered additional paths to success.”

House will have the first transgender member

McBride, a Democratic state senator in Delaware, already made history in 2020 when she was elected the only openly transgender state senator in the country. This followed a rise in 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 sports for women and girls and banning books with LGBTQ themes, to debates over gender-affirming pronouns and gender-neutral bathrooms, the visibility of transgender people in politics could maintain those issues at the forefront of debates about acceptance. and tolerance.

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

Advocates welcome progress but point to 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 often comes when Democrats do better in the election cycle.

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

Allison said the younger generation of future American voters may not always see racial and gender diversity as crucial if their parents’ generation does not address long-standing issues of social and economic inequality.

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