On November 9, Chuck Schumer welcomed 11 newly elected Democratic senators to the U.S. Capitol after Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.

The incoming senators are Sherrod Brown of Ohio, James Talarico of Texas, Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Josh Turek of Iowa, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Annie Andrews of South Carolina, Troy Jackson of Maine, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Adam Hamilton of Kansas.

The class includes several historic firsts: Chris Pappas will be the first openly gay elected senator, Abdul El-Sayed the first Muslim senator, and Peggy Flanagan the first Native American woman senator.

Democrats are projected to hold 54 Senate seats when the 120th Congress begins in January, with as many as 56 if Alaska’s Mary Peltola and Mississippi’s Scott Colom win races where votes are still being counted.

A victory for Colom would make him Mississippi’s first Black senator since the Reconstruction era; he is challenging Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Schumer said voters had rejected President Donald Trump and Republicans and wanted a government responsive to their needs.

Schumer will need to seek his party’s leadership position again next month to retain it.