Photo Courtesy of Twitter/@_waleedshahid

The year of 2018 has been the year of the black women and yesterday was another example of it. Many black women and other minorities groups went out to vote and it showed during the midterm elections.

We watched several races across the nation in an election where Democrats set out to unseat Republican opponents to gain control of Congress. Democrats were successful last night in taking over the U.S. House of Representatives, gaining new power to challenge Trump and policies. Republicans, however, retained control of the Senate, still giving Trump one chamber to defend his administration.

Some states made history where voters are projected to have elected their first black woman to Congress including Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Jahana Hayes, who will be the first black woman to represent Connecticut, and Lauren Underwood, who will be the first black congresswoman of Illinois. Democrat IIlhan Omar of Minnesota and Democrat is Rashida Tlaib of Michigan will be the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Omar is also the first Somali-American to be elected to Congress.

In Georgia, Stacey Abrams, who if elected will be the first black female governor in the history of the U.S., is refusing to concede to Republican opponent Brian Kemp. Abrams said the race, which was last projected in favor of Kemp, 50.8 percent to 48.3 percent, was too close to call.

A few other historic firsts include the election of Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx, New York, who is the youngest woman ever, at age 29, to be elected to Congress. Democrat Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Democrat Sharice Davids of Kansas will become the first Native American women elected to Congress. Davids is also the first lesbian woman elected.

In Colorado, Jared Polis won his bid for governor and is now the first openly gay man elected governor in the U.S.

Of course, there were also some upsets. In Florida, Democrat Andrew Gillum, who is currently the mayor of Tallahassee, was defeated by Republican Ron DeSantis for governor. And in Texas, celebrity-endorsed Beto O’Rourke was unsuccessful in his attempt to unseat U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

We once again want to thank everyone for voting and making an effort to make the changes they want to see.