Courtney Balcombe

News Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

During the 2021 elections, some leaders made history on the eastern coast of the U.S. from Boston to Michigan.

In Boston, Michelle Wu, a Democrat, is the first woman and person of color to be elected as mayor. According to NPR, she moved from Chicago to Boston and attended both Harvard and Harvard Law School. They also reported that she has broken the nearly two-century white, male streak of city leaders. 

“Boston has come together to reshape what is possible,” she told supporters. “We are the city of the first public school in the country, the first public park, the first subway tunnel. We are the city of revolution, civil rights, marriage equality. We have always been that city that punches above our weight.”

In New York City, Shahana Hanif, a Democrat, is the first Muslim woman to be elected into the NYC Council. According to the New York Times, she is a Bangladeshi American, who was the first Muslim woman elected to the Council in its history, despite the fact that the city is home to an estimated 769,000 Muslims.

“Together we are building an anti-racist, feminist city,” Hanif said. “We deserve a city that protects its most vulnerable, a city that has equitable education, a city invested in climate solutions that are local and driven by communities, a city where our immigrant neighbors feel at home and heard and safe. This work requires all of us to keep showing up even though the election is over.”

In Durham, North Carolina Elaine O’Neal, a Democrat, was elected as their first black woman to be mayor. According to The Herold Sun, she is a former judge and interim dean of N.C. Central University Law School. She won 25,607 votes in Tuesday’s election, which was 84.69 percent of the total votes cast.

“As the first Black woman mayor of Durham,” O’Neal said. “I know that we are closer to the American dream of opportunity for all yet on occasion we remain the closest of strangers. Let’s step out of the comfort zone of yesterday into something bold and beautiful and bright for all of our children.”

In Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Ed Gainey, a Democrat, was elected as their first black mayor. According to KDKA CBS Pittsburgh, he served in various government agencies before winning a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2012, and he won a surprise victory against incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in the May 2021 Democratic Primary.

“We brought together a lot of different coalitions,” Gainey told KDKA. “You heard me talk about when I first ran. We wanted to unite Pittsburgh. We want to bring this city together so we intentionally reached out to everybody.”

In Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, Democrat, was elected as their first black attorney. With his new position, he will now take on the criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump.

According to Bloomberg, former district attorney Cyrus Vance intends to make a decision on whether to charge Trump with a crime in his remaining weeks. Even telling the Financial Times in September that his “goal is to complete decisions about charging before I leave.” 

In Cincinnati, Ohio Aftab Pureval was elected as their first Asian American mayor. According to the Washington Post, some people suggested that he change his name to something more familiar, however, he chose to ignore the advice and teach them his name.

“Words can’t express how honored and excited I am to be the next Mayor of Cincinnati,” Pureval said on Twitter. “Tonight, we made history! Let’s get to work!”

In Dearborn, Michigan Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat, was elected as their first Arab American and first Muslim mayor.

“To the young girls and boys who have been ridiculed for their faith or ethnicity, to those of you who were ever made to feel that their names are unwelcome, and to our parents and to others who are humiliated for their broken English and yet still persisted — today is proof that you are as American as anyone else, and there is a new era in Dearborn,” Hammoud told his audience of hundreds.

This election showed various minorities that anything is possible if you put in the effort to get there.