Tuesday, November 5th was election day. People voted on seats in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and governors in some states. Every two years, the entire House of Representatives, which Republicans previously held the majority in, is up for election. Republicans also held the majority in the Senate, and a third of the seats were up for election. Republicans won two seats in the Senate previously held by Democrats, maintaining control of the Senate with some races still to be decided. But, Democrats gained 27 seats in the House, which marks the end of Republican control of the House and the beginning of Democrat control, starting in January.

As for New York specifically, Andrew Cuomo was elected as governor. While New York is usually viewed as a “blue state,” this is solely due to high population density in more liberal areas, such as New York City. But this view of New York is only for the city and parts of Long Island, the majority of upstate New York voted Republican. Tom Suozzi, who came to speak at Friends Academy about promoting collaboration between Republicans and Democrats, secured his seat in the House, representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

This election made history with multiple midterm election records broken. As Business Insider lists, records were broken for early voter turnout, number of candidates, number of women running, number of LGBT candidates running, number of female candidates elected, number of women of color elected to the House, the youngest woman elected to Congress, the first Native American woman elected to Congress, and the first Muslim woman elected to Congress.  At least 117 women won seats in Congress.

Notably, 49% of eligible voters participated in the midterm elections, increasing from 37% in the 2014 Midterms. Since 2012, women of color running for Congress increased by 75%. At least 244 LGBT candidates ran for office. As you can see, the list of records broken is extensive, and this year’s midterm election has made history.