Quite a lot of candidates made historical past on election night time Tuesday. This is what you want to learn about their historic wins:
Virginia lieutenant governor
CNN initiatives Winsome Sears to be Virginia’s lieutenant governor, making her the primary feminine and the primary lady of coloration within the workplace within the commonwealth’s 400-year legislative historical past.
“It is a historic night time — sure, it’s — however I did not run to make historical past. I simply wished to depart it higher than I discovered it,” Sears stated earlier than a crowd of supporters early Wednesday morning.
A conservative Republican, Sears will serve alongside Republican Glenn Youngkin, whom CNN projected would win the Virginia gubernatorial race.
Sears, who was born in Jamaica, is the primary Black Republican lady to be elected to the Virginia Common Meeting.
Boston mayor
CNN initiatives Michelle Wu to be Boston’s next mayor. She’ll be the primary lady and particular person of coloration elected to the highest submit within the metropolis’s historical past.
“From each nook of our metropolis, Boston has spoken. We’re prepared to fulfill this second. We’re able to develop into a Boston for everybody,” Wu stated to a crowd of supporters Tuesday night time. “I wish to be clear, it wasn’t my imaginative and prescient on the poll, it was ours, collectively.”
Metropolis Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, additionally a lady of coloration, conceded the Boston mayoral race with a big share of the vote nonetheless ready to be counted.
From the start, this election was a exceptional departure from Boston’s historical past. Uncontested mayoral races, the place there isn’t any incumbent searching for reelection, are onerous to return by in Boston and infrequently draw crowded primaries within the Democrat-heavy metropolis. And on this yr’s unaffiliated major, each critical contender was an individual of coloration, and most of them have been girls.
Championing hallmark insurance policies like a Inexperienced New Deal for Boston, Wu racked up help from high-profile Massachusetts progressives, reminiscent of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Pressley, who represents a portion of Boston, additionally served on the Boston Metropolis Council with each Wu and Essaibi George.
Wu ran on a progressive platform, together with calling for a fare-free transit system.
Pittsburgh mayor
Ed Gainey will likely be Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor, CNN initiatives.
Gainey, a Democrat, bested Republican Tony Moreno, a retired Pittsburgh police officer.
In the course of the marketing campaign, Gainey stated he wished to make Pittsburgh the nation’s most “safe, affordable and diverse” metropolis and touted police reform and inexpensive housing. He has represented Pittsburgh within the state legislature since 2013 and beforehand labored for Pittsburgh Mayors Luke Ravenstahl and Tom Murphy.
Throughout an change over mayoral efforts to sort out violence in a recent debate, Gainey emphasised utilizing a public well being blueprint.
“The truth is, if it was that straightforward, it might be solved already,” Gainey stated. “This can be a real-life scenario, and we are going to cope with it,”
Within the Democratic major, Gainey comfortably beat the present incumbent Mayor Invoice Peduto in Might — making him the first mayoral challenger to unseat an incumbent since 1933.
