Across the country, millions of Americans voted on amendments, governors, mayors and senators in the 2022 midterm elections. Though the Texas A&M community is most affected by election results from Brazos County and the gubernatorial race, here are three midterm election takeaways from beyond state borders.
Full of firsts
Broken barriers in race, gender and sexuality were evident across the nation in a variety of races, especially in gubernatorial elections. Sarah Sanders will be the first female governor of Arkansas, Wes Moore will be the first Black governor of Maryland, Maura Healey of Massachusetts is the nation’s first openly lesbian governor and Maxwell Frost of Florida is the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in Congress. According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the 2022 midterms marked the first time members of the LGBTQ community ran for office in all 50 states, and a record-setting number of women ran for governorships, according to Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
It’s all up to Georgia … Again.
The Senate had 35 available seats across the nation, and Georgia’s senate race was particularly high-profile, as former pro football player Hershel Walker ran a tight race against incumbent Raphael Warnock. As of Wednesday, Nov. 9, neither candidate had 50% of the votes, initiating a runoff election. The tight race, combined with Walker’s strategic move to Georgia — as advised by Donald Trump — will be continued this December.
Abortion access protected
In addition to the local and state elections with candidates staunchly pro-life or pro-choice, Kentucky and Michigan had abortion-specific legislation on their ballots. Though Kentucky is a historically Republican state, the majority voted against Amendment 2, which would remove abortion rights from their state constitution. Moving forward, this may help abortion advocates secure access, with minimal restrictions, in the state. On the other hand, Proposal 3 in Michigan, after winning by a 56.7% majority — according to the Associated Press — adds the right to contraception and abortion to the state’s constitution.
