The midterm election on Tuesday, November 8 marked a historic night, as Democrats took back the House of Representatives, many diverse candidates had success, and some elections were deemed too close to call.

Many Democrats were hoping for a blue wave, and while the Republicans kept control of the Senate, Democrats became the majority party in the House of Representatives and have their most diverse representation ever, including the first two Native American women representatives, Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Sharice Davids of Kansas. Davids is also the first representative from the LGBTQ community to represent Kansas. Also joining the House of Representatives are Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib, who will become the first Muslim women in Congress. Texas elected their first Hispanic congresswomen, Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia. Democrats also helped to increase the number of women in Congress.   

“It’s great that there’s Muslim representation in the House of Representatives because it shows evidence of progress” said senior Yara Kiblawi on the new diversity.

It was not a good day for Republicans, because the 32 seats they lost in the House of Representatives meant that they lost control of the House of Representatives. Previously, they did not have to reach across the aisle, but now they must learn to either make concessions or face gridlock. However, they also showed diversity through historic victories, such as Marsha Blackburn, who will be the first female senator from Tennessee.

One switch of control was in New Jersey’s 11th district, where former navy pilot and federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jay Webber. The district contains Wayne and has been represented by Rodney Frelinghuysen since 1995, but he announced that he would retire after the midterm elections. The election was so important that well-known politicians such as Joe Biden came to events supporting Sherrill and Kellyanne Conway attended events supporting Webber. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg included Sherill as one of the Democrats he donated money to. Her win and 10 other Democrat wins in New Jersey means that only 1 of the 12 New Jersey districts will have Republican representation, which has not happened since 1912.

Democrat Bob Menendez also won a third term, surprising many because he was the subject of a federal corruption trial. He was not charged, but it still ruined his reputation among many. However, he still managed to beat Republican challenger Bob Hugin. This was partially because Bob Hugin did not have a clean reputation either. His pharmacy company unfairly raised the price of cancer drugs and he also has a close relationship with President Donald Trump. President Trump even endorsed Hugin in a tweet, which was not helpful in a state that Trump did not win in the 2016 election. For many, the choice was a difficult decision that boiled down to what they saw as the lesser of two evils.

While New Jersey did not have a governor election during midterms, several states did and some of the winners made history. Democrat Jared Polis from Colorado will be the first openly gay governor. Republican Kristi Noem will be South Dakota’s first female governor. The U.S. territory Guam also had their first female governor, Lou Leon Guerrero.

There were even some races that were too close to call. It took around a week to declare the winner of Arizona’s Senate race, which ultimately ended in a victory for Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Florida will be holding a recount election for both their Senate and gubernatorial races. There are still other elections that are too close to call and many races to watch across the country, showing that the midterm election is far from over.