Pappas says Trump, Musk and Sununu backers used money, attack ads and lies

Haaland thanked voters in a Tuesday night post on X

The Guardian reported that Chris Pappas tore into Donald Trump, Elon Musk and others who backed his opponent, John Sununu, at a victory party with his spouse, Vann Bentley, standing nearby. “They threw money, attack ads, and outright lies at us every day for months,” Pappas said. “But we beat them anyway, didn’t we?” The New Hampshire representative was elected to the US Senate, making him the first openly gay man to serve in the chamber.

Deb Haaland, the former US interior secretary, comfortably won New Mexico’s gubernatorial race. A member of Laguna Pueblo, she thanked voters in a Tuesday night X post. “You chose a future where New Mexico comes first, where working families have a chance to get ahead, and where every New Mexican has a voice,” she wrote. “Whether you voted for me or not, I will always be your governor, too. Because this campaign was about all of us, and the future we deserve.”

The campaigns behind those victories turned on money and messages. Three-term governor Greg Abbott trounced Gina Hinojosa in campaign funding after her campaign gained little traction at first. She soon became a fierce contender, touting her focus on affordability and opposition to new data centers; The Guardian said her opposition to the data centers, rather than affordability generally, made Abbott vulnerable to criticism. Hinojosa pulled off what the paper called a stunning upset, unseating Abbott; she will be the state’s first Latina governor and the first Democrat to win the office since 1990.

Affordability also ran through the Florida race. Republican Byron Donalds will be Florida’s first Black governor, succeeding Ron DeSantis, who has reached his term limit. The three-term congressman, whom Donald Trump endorsed, made affordability central to his campaign while avoiding mention of the unpopular war with Iran and the ensuing spike in oil prices, The Guardian reported.

In Wisconsin, Republican Tom Tiffany greatly outspent David Crowley in a governor race Crowley won against many odds. Crowley had dropped out of the race over the summer, only to rejoin at the urging of outgoing Democratic governor Tony Evers. His victory made him the first Black person to hold the office.

In Ohio, the final weeks of the campaign were dominated by a much-criticized ad that Republican Vivek Ramaswamy put millions of dollars behind, featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a liar. Acton, a Democrat, defeated Ramaswamy to become Ohio’s first female governor. The Guardian reported that Acton’s mother lost custody of her children after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was accused of raping Acton at the age of 12.

Xavier Becerra has made history as the state’s first elected Latino governor. The son of Mexican immigrants, he is set to govern over a state where more than 40% of its residents identify as Latino. Becerra broke through a crowded Democratic primary after an underwhelming start, and before the vote The Guardian reported that he was widely favored to defeat Republican challenger and conservative pundit Steve Hilton, given the state’s Democratic stronghold. Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is the first Native American woman to be elected to the US Senate; Flanagan is Ojibwe and a member of the White Earth Nation.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, defeated Republican billionaire Rick Jackson in Georgia’s governor race to become the first Black female governor in the country, and the first Black person and woman to occupy Georgia’s top office. Bottoms had faced scrutiny over her “rocky single-term tenure” as mayor between 2018 and 2022, during which violent crime surged. On the gubernatorial campaign trail, she emphasized her ability to fight the Trump administration. A photograph by Megan Varner/Getty Images shows Bottoms celebrating her Georgia governor election victory in Atlanta.

Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s highly contested Senate race, defeating Republican Mike Rogers to become the chamber’s first Muslim member. His identity frequently came under attack throughout the race from both Rogers and Trump, The Guardian reported.

The Guardian counted 10 candidates who set historic firsts in state and national races and said the midterms had ushered in historic wins that shattered racial and gender ceilings, among other barriers. The two winners quoted here spoke for themselves after the count: Pappas said Trump, Elon Musk and other backers of John Sununu threw money, attack ads and outright lies at his campaign every day for months, and Haaland said New Mexico should come first and that every New Mexican has a voice.