Often, in America, when we look at our elected officials and people in positions of power, we tend to see a lot of older white men. In fact, in recent years, congress has been the oldest it’s ever been. The government has the power to change the daily lives of all citizens in our country. All age groups, races, genders, and sexualities deserve to be adequately represented and reflected.

In this year’s midterms, there were many nominees and winners that contributed to increased diversity in our government. It’s important to recognize these new members and celebrate the barriers they have broken.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost

Maxwell Alejandro Frost is a 25-year-old democrat. He was elected this year, in 2022, and became the first “Gen-Z” member of congress. According to NPR, “Gun violence prevention was a core tenet of Frost’s platform, along with supporting progressive policies like Medicare for all and a Green New Deal.”

Despite his young age, Frost has experience fighting for what’s he believes in. His website describes him as a “survivor, leader, and advocate”. Some of his many accomplishments in the political world include: fighting for abortion rights, leading the ACLU of Florida’s fight to restore voting rights to Floridians with previous felony convictions, and securing funding for community-based violence prevention programs.

Kathy Hochul

Kathy Hochul became the first elected female governor of New York. Although she took office in 2021 after Andrew

Cuomo’s resignation, she wasn’t elected to a full term until this year’s midterms. During her previous role as the Lieutenant Governor, she worked to eliminate the gender wage gap, combat sexual harassment in the workplace, and prevent sexual assault on college campuses. Her current focus is to support New York in its recovery from Covid-19.

Wes Moore

In 2022, Wes Moore, a Democrat, became the first Black governor of Maryland. He is a combat veteran and former CEO of The Robinhood Foundation, one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations. His campaign slogan was simple yet effective. “Leave Nobody Behind”

He is a big supporter of public education, improving the economy, and protecting unions. In his words, “gone should be the days of people who are working, and in some cases working multiple jobs, and still living below the poverty line.”

Becca Balint

Becca Balint became Vermont’s first woman and first openly gay person elected to Congress. Balint taught middle school for 14 years before becoming an activist and politician. The issues most important to her include climate change, housing affordability, medical debt, and economic inequality.

Previously, as leader of Vermont’s Senate, she passed the strongest reproductive rights protection in the nation, as well as the first gun safety legislation in Vermont’s history, and made investments in affordable housing.

Leigh Finke

Leigh Finke, a Democrat, is the first transgender person elected to the Minnesota Legislature. She has been in politics for over 20 years and is a fierce advocate for women’s and transgender rights. Specifically, she is passionate about reproductive rights, improving schools and education, fixing the public safety system, and protecting LGBTQ people of all ages.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund issued a statement saying that “her win is a clear and deafening rebuke to the transphobia currently sweeping our communities and her success will inspire other trans people to step up and run.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the first elected female governor of Arkansas. Arkansas is also now one of the first two states (the other being Massachusetts), to have both a female governor and lieutenant governor in office simultaneously.

Sanders previously served as White House Press Secretary for President Donald Trump from 2017-2019. She says her top priorities are eliminating the state income tax, and improving education. She wants to combat literacy shortfalls in hopes of decreasing poverty. 

She also says that “right now, we have a lot of violent offenders that are let back out and into the communities…We have to make sure that people understand that when they commit a crime, and they get a sentence, they are actually going to have to fulfill what that sentence is.”

Katie Britt

Katie Britt is the first woman elected to the Senate in Alabama. She is a Republican who is passionate about “putting Alabama first”. Previously, she was president and CEO of Alabama’s business council. According to her campaign website, she is a “lifelong conservative” who is committed to “fighting tirelessly to defend the right to life”, as well as securing our borders.

The United States government has a long way to go in order to ensure actual diversity and equal opportunity, but these new members represent a big step forward for our country. They are paving the way for future generations and everyone will benefit from this growing representation.