Celebrate Tonight. Then Get Ready for January.
The 2026 midterms delivered a wave of historic firsts and a Democratic Congress. The people who won can’t help anyone until they’re sworn in, and a major change to Medicaid arrives first.
As of 2 p.m. (CST), November 4, 2026. All results and “firsts” below are projections and may change as counts are finalized.
A night of firsts
Voters changed what American leadership looks like. CNN’s Decision Desk projects the first Black woman governor in US history, the first Muslim elected to the US Senate and the first out gay male senator. Democrats gained a net four Senate seats, reaching at least a 51-49 majority, and reporting indicates they won the House too.
It wasn’t only one party’s story. Republicans Byron Donalds and Marsha Blackburn are on the list too, so both parties are sending a more varied group of leaders to office. Here are the historic firsts, by name.
Governors
Keisha Lance Bottoms (D, Georgia): first Black governor of Georgia, first woman governor of Georgia and first Black woman governor in US history
Deb Haaland (D, New Mexico): first Native American governor of New Mexico and first Native American woman governor in US history
Gina Hinojosa (D, Texas): first Hispanic governor of Texas
Amy Acton (D, Ohio): first woman elected governor of Ohio
Xavier Becerra (D, California): first elected Latino governor of California
David Crowley (D, Wisconsin): first Black governor of Wisconsin
Aaron Ford (D, Nevada): first Black governor of Nevada
Byron Donalds (R, Florida): first Black governor of Florida
Marsha Blackburn (R, Tennessee): first woman governor of Tennessee
US Senate
Abdul El-Sayed (D, Michigan): first Muslim US senator
Chris Pappas (D, New Hampshire): first out gay male US senator
Peggy Flanagan (D, Minnesota): first Native American woman in the US Senate, according to CNN’s heading
Annie Andrews (D, South Carolina): first woman elected to the US Senate from South Carolina
US House
Melat Kiros (D, Colorado): first Black woman in Congress from Colorado, at 29 one of the youngest members of the House
Adam Hamawy (D, New Jersey): first Muslim member of Congress from New Jersey
Claire Valdez (D, New York): first Native American woman in Congress from New York
Jeremy Moss (D, Michigan): first out gay member of Congress from Michigan
Denise Powell (D, Nebraska): first Hispanic member of Congress from Nebraska
What they promised
The backgrounds differ, but the pitch was often the same: cost of living. Bottoms centered her campaign on expanding Medicaid, homeowner tax relief and education funding. Acton pitched property tax cuts and a data center moratorium unless the companies cover their own utility costs. Andrews, who flipped a South Carolina Senate seat, ran as an independent-minded moderate focused on affordability and corruption. Donalds, on the Republican side, ran on tax reform and data center regulation while backing Trump’s agenda.
Others ran on bolder promises. Hamawy supports Medicare for All and canceling medical and student loan debt. Flanagan vowed to “rip ICE apart.” Several won largely as a check on the administration, such as Ford, who made his lawsuits against the Trump administration part of his pitch. The winners agree on little beyond the pressure families feel on their budgets.
The calendar problem
A promise made on the trail can’t be kept from the sidelines, and none of the winners are in office yet. Most governors and the new Congress take their oaths in the weeks after the election, in January. A major piece of the 2025 reconciliation law lands at the start of the new year.
States must make Medicaid expansion eligibility depend on work requirements by January 1, 2027. Expansion adults will also face eligibility checks every six months instead of every year. Adults aged 19 to 64 will have to document 80 hours a month of work, job training, school or community service to stay covered.
Millions, not thousands
CBO’s numbers are large. Its July 2025 estimate projected about 10 million more uninsured people in 2034, and work requirements account for 4.8 million of that. These are projections over nearly a decade, and actual losses will depend on how each state runs the system.
Past experience shows how paperwork can matter as much as the rule. When Arkansas imposed work requirements in 2018, more than 18,000 people lost coverage, partly because of difficulties with the paperwork. Georgia’s program expected about 25,000 enrollees in its first year but had roughly 6,500 by January. Someone can be eligible and still lose coverage by missing a form or a deadline.
The case for the law
Supporters see it differently, and any honest account should say so. Republicans acknowledge the work requirements will reduce Medicaid enrollment, but say the aim is to root out waste, fraud and abuse and to get able-bodied adults working. The White House argues that 4.8 million able-bodied adults are choosing not to work, while critics counter that most able-bodied recipients already work. Which side is right matters for how many people ultimately lose coverage.
What comes next
Voters just sent a message about costs, but the law is on the calendar and the office-holders aren’t. They also face a hurdle in Washington, since Trump is already vowing to veto Democratic legislation. The practical work starts now. Newly elected officials, local organizers and neighbors can spread the word about the new rules, the paperwork and the deadlines before January 1, 2027.
So celebrate the firsts, because they’re real. Then use the weeks before the swearing-in to help people keep their coverage.
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