Ex-Trump spokeswoman to Trump rival - These are the most exciting winners of the night

The votes have not yet been counted in all US states, and the final majority may not be known for a few weeks. But one thing is already clear: the midterm elections in the USA have brought one or the other interesting figure new or renewed to a post of governor or to the Senate or House of Representatives. WELT presents some of the most exciting winners of the Midterms night.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Republican, was reelected. The 44-year-old, who was traded as a possible future presidential candidate, prevailed against his challenger Charlie Crist from the Democratic Party. Florida is considered a so-called "swing state" in which voters sometimes prefer the Republicans and sometimes the Democrats.

DeSantis has been at the head of the state in the southeastern United States since 2019. The right-wing politician is considered the rising star of the Republicans - and before the presidential elections in 2024 as a potential inner-party competitor of ex-President Donald Trump.

Trump has recently made it increasingly clear that he wants to run again in two years. Most recently, he said on Monday evening that he would make a “very big announcement” on Tuesday next week. This fuels speculation that the 76-year-old could announce his candidacy for the presidency that day. DeSantis is considered one of the few Republicans who could take on the ex-president in the primaries.

Trump threatened DeSantis with uncomfortable revelations if he were to run for the White House in 2024. He could say "things that aren't particularly flattering" about DeSantis, Trump told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

The governorship in Massachusetts is back in the hands of the Democrats. Attorney General Maura Healey prevailed against Republican Geoff Diehl, who had the backing of ex-President Donald Trump.

With her victory, Healey made history twice over: she is the first woman and the first openly gay person to hold the highest office in Massachusetts. With her triumph, she also ended a negative series known as the “curse of the attorney general”: Since 1958, all previous attorney generals who had reached for the governorship in Massachusetts had failed with their campaigns. The New England state was ruled for eight years by the popular Republican Charlie Baker, who decided against running for office again.

Former spokeswoman for ex-President Donald Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, made the running for the governorship in the US state of Arkansas. Sanders defeated Democrat Chris Jones in her Republican home state, where her former boss Trump continues to be held in high esteem. The former White House press secretary was considered a favorite. Also running was Liberal candidate Ricky Dale Harrington.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee's daughter raised record-breaking campaign donations for Arkansas. In the election campaign, she focused primarily on national issues and promised to fight President Joe Biden and the “radical left” as governor. She was the White House spokeswoman from 2017 to 2019. During this time, she had repeatedly been accused of spreading untrue or misleading statements.

Sanders succeeds Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is stepping down in January due to a term limit. Hutchinson, who backed Sanders' bid, is considering running for president in the 2024 election and has fallen out with Trump on multiple occasions. Trump had publicly encouraged Sanders to run when she left the White House in 2019 and returned to Arkansas.

According to forecasts, Democrat Josh Shapiro will become the new governor of the US state of Pennsylvania. According to forecasts by the TV stations NBC and Fox News, the previous Attorney General of the key state with around 13 million inhabitants won against the Republican and ardent Trump supporter Doug Mastriano (58).

Shapiro's campaign focused, among other things, on protecting democracy. Meanwhile, state Senator Mastriano spread Trump's untruths about the stolen 2020 election. In the past, he spoke out against corona measures and is a strict anti-abortion opponent.

Pennsylvania is considered a so-called "swing state" in which voters sometimes prefer the Republicans and sometimes the Democrats. In the 2020 presidential election, the state was one of the most competitive.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer easily secured a fifth term. The 71-year-old from Brooklyn beat Republican Joe Pinion, who is a presenter at right-wing Newsmax. In New York State, where Democratic voters vastly outnumber the voters, Pinion's candidacy seemed hopeless.

Schumer was first elected to the Senate in 1998. Last year he became the majority leader of the parliamentary chamber, in which the political camps each hold 50 seats. Vice President Kamala Harris casts the ballot in favor of her Democrats. Should Republicans take control of the Senate in the midterm elections, Schumer's tenure as majority leader would be over.

Republican J.D. Vance won the important Senate race in the state of Ohio. According to US broadcasters, the financial investor and bestselling author ("Hillbilly Elegy") supported by ex-President Trump prevailed against Democrat Tim Ryan. The broadcasters ABC and NBC saw Vance on Tuesday evening (local time) after counting more than 85 percent of the votes at around 54 percent.

Ohio was one of the states with a relatively close duel for a Senate seat. Although Vance was the favorite, US President Joe Biden's Democrats had hoped for a surprise victory - and have now been disappointed. A Republican has already held the hard-fought Senate seat.

Vance rose to international fame in 2016 with the book Hillbilly Elegy: The Story of My Family and a Society in Crisis. In it, he described growing up in a white underclass family in the United States that was characterized by poverty and drug problems.

Published months before Trump's surprise victory in the 2016 presidential election, the book became an acclaimed bestseller and was later adapted into a film by star director Ron Howard, starring Glenn Close. Part of the book's great success was that it provided an explanation of how the white working class in neglected former industrial regions could become enthusiastic about Trump.

Vance himself has been a declared Trump opponent in the past. Before the presidential election in 2016, he even described the right-wing populist as an "idiot" whom he "never liked". When Vance entered the Republican primary in his home state of Ohio last year, he distanced himself from his earlier statements and came out as a staunch Trump supporter with hard-right politics. Trump finally gave him his support in the Republican primary campaign.

Notorious Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene defended her seat in the US House of Representatives. Before and during her first term in office, the 48-year-old attracted attention with conspiracy theories and sometimes made racist and anti-Semitic comments.

Weeks after taking office last year, members of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to relieve Greene of committee posts. The reason was indignation at Greene's statements and her obvious support for violence against Democrats. A Facebook ad on Greene's campaign page that showed Greene with a gun - along with pictures of Democratic MPs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib - also known as "The Squad" caused particular outrage. The picture was captioned: "The Squad's Worst Nightmare".

Greene was expected to be re-elected. She has made it clear that she intends to play a key role in the group should Republicans gain a majority in the House of Representatives. "I will be a strong representative and I will be a very dedicated member of Congress," she announced. “I know how to work inside and I know how to work outside. And I look forward to doing that.”