This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
It’s a blue wave in America, and there’s a rainbow too.
Democrats surged into Republican territory Tuesday night, with LGBTQ+ candidates helping flip congressional seats, breaking barriers in Texas and securing another term for the nation’s first transgender member of Congress.
Texas delivered one of the night’s sharpest rebukes to Republicans’ anti-trans campaign strategy. After the GOP poured tens of millions into anti-trans television advertising in the state, Democrats flipped both the governorship and a U.S. Senate seat. Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott, becoming Texas’ first Latina governor, while James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton. The barrage kept neither office in Republican hands, breaking decades of Democratic losses in statewide elections.
Democrats also captured Republican Senate seats in South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina. Democrats are projected to control the House and the U.S. Senate, setting up a confrontation with President Donald Trump over legislation, judicial confirmations, and congressional investigations.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the out gay California Democrat positioned to chair the House Oversight Committee, offered a preview.
“Lawyer up,” he wrote on X.
Related: Rainbow Wave 2026: See all the LGBTQ+ midterm election winners
Garcia defeated Republican Brian Burley, securing a third term and putting him on course to lead one of Congress’ most consequential investigative committees.
LGBTQ+ candidates helped build that majority.
In Indiana, Democratic state Sen. JD Ford defeated Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, becoming the first out gay person elected to Congress from the state. In Arizona, queer Marine veteran JoAnna Mendoza unseated Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani. And in California, bisexual San Diego City Council member Marni von Wilpert defeated Republican Jim Desmond for the seat being vacated by Rep. Darrell Issa.
New Hampshire delivered another breakthrough as Rep. Chris Pappas defeated Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu to become the first out gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. He will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
In Delaware, Rep. Sarah McBride won a second term, returning Congress’ first out transgender member to a chamber where Republican leaders targeted her bathroom access before she cast her first vote. Kansas voters also reelected Rep. Sharice Davids, a lesbian and Ho-Chunk Nation citizen.
The gains extended into state government. Bentley Hudgins defeated Republican Samantha Boston to become Georgia’s first out transgender and nonbinary state lawmaker. Their campaign emphasized housing, wages, transit, and neglected neighborhoods.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, the first out lesbians elected governor, both secured second terms.
Virginia voters also approved a constitutional amendment protecting marriage equality, replacing the unenforceable same-sex marriage ban adopted 20 years earlier.
As counting continued, the night’s significance was already clear. LGBTQ+ Americans had helped Democrats win power and would be among those entrusted to use it.
