The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) celebrates the historic diversity of the leaders elected to office in the 2026 midterm elections because we know that diversity is a strength. FCNL has long made clear that diverse perspectives have the power to make any group pursuit, including democracy in the United States, more effective. FCNL’s vision includes seeking “a society with equity and justice for all” and “a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled.” At FCNL, we consider the world we are building to be a beloved community as “described by author and social activist bell hooks as being ‘formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.’” The 2026 midterm elections reflected that vision of beloved community.
“The work of AJEDI [Anti-racism, Anti-bias, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Integrity] is … integral to the preservation and promise of a multiracial democracy and the building of the Beloved Community, standing in direct resistance to the forces driving our society toward authoritarianism.”
Earlier this year, FCNL published “Steadfast in Our Truth: A minute on our Anti-racism, Anti-bias, Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Integrity principles.” We noted that for the FCNL community, “The work of AJEDI [Anti-racism, Anti-bias, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Integrity] is … not ‘another issue’ among many, but integral to the preservation and promise of a multiracial democracy and the building of the Beloved Community, standing in direct resistance to the forces driving our society toward authoritarianism.”
In our “Steadfast in Our Truth” minute, we shared that during this period of societal retrenchment from commitments made during and following the racial reckoning of 2020, we have painfully born witness as many “have denounced or dismantled their diversity and equity efforts [and] others have chosen silence.” We understood it was important to “stand alongside many organizations, communities, and faith bodies that remain steadfast in their commitments, continuing to build toward a more just and equitable society,” noting that “We find strength and hope in this shared labor.”
We find hope again in the diverse representation that Americans will have based on the 2026 midterm elections. As of this writing, in governors races across the country, ten represent “firsts,” including four states in which a female governor was elected for the first time, four states in which a Black governor was elected for the first time, two states in which a Latine/Hispanic governor was elected for the first time, and a state with their first Native American governor.
There are many new perspectives that will be shared in Congress as well. In addition to myriad new diverse voices in the House of Representatives, in the Senate there will be the nation’s first Muslim senator, first Native American female senator, and first out gay male senator. These same kinds of “firsts” are celebrated across the country in a wide range of races. People were elected because of what they committed to do for their communities rather than their identifying in the same ways as the majority of their neighbors.
After a campaign season that included many messages exuding cruelty and biases, this election reflects that Americans seem to have chosen to love their neighbors without exception. FCNL’s AJEDI statement shares that “FCNL endeavors to embody the belief in … each person’s unique access to the Divine” and voters embraced that belief, over the stereotypes and bigotry being amplified, as they cast their ballots. The FCNL AJEDI statement ends by naming that the “ongoing process of becoming the beloved community that we seek …helps hasten the world we seek.”
The 2026 midterms were a meaningful step toward that world.
