Record 17 States Elect Female Governors as Seattle Premieres Virtù

Historic milestones in statehouses and Capitol Hill accompanied a rare orchestral premiere on the West Coast this week, as voters across a record 17 states elected female governors in the 2026 midterm elections and the Seattle Symphony prepared to bring its principal timpanist to the front of the stage at Benaroya Hall.

Record 17 States Elect Female Governors as 101 Women Win Statewide Office

Across the United States, voters in 17 states elected a female governor on Tuesday after a record 26 women ran as major-party gubernatorial nominees—surpassing the 2022 record of 25—according to Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics via ABC7 News. A record 101 women will hold statewide elective office following the election, including at least 18 Black women in statewide executive posts, up from the previous record of 11, while 139 women are projected to serve in the 120th Congress starting in January compared with 152 currently serving.

Statewide gubernatorial projections included Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming Georgia's first female governor and the nation's first Black female governor, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn becoming Tennessee's first female governor, Democrat Amy Acton becoming Ohio's first elected female governor, and Democratic Rep. Gina Hinojosa becoming Texas's first Latina governor. Voters also elected or reelected female governors in New Mexico (Democrat Deb Haaland), Michigan (Democrat Jocelyn Benson), Arkansas (Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders), Oregon (Democrat Tina Kotek), New Hampshire (Republican Kelly Ayotte), Minnesota (Democrat Amy Klobuchar), and Rhode Island (Democrat Helena Foulkes).

In congressional races, Democrat Peggy Flanagan was projected to become the first Native American woman in the U.S. Senate from Minnesota; Democrat Juliana Stratton won in Illinois to serve alongside Sen. Tammy Duckworth and join Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland so three Black women serve in the Senate simultaneously; Democrat Annie Andrews won in South Carolina as the state's first elected female senator; Democrat Melat Kiros won Colorado's 1st Congressional District as the state's first Black congresswoman; and Democrat Denise Powell won in Nebraska as the state's first Latina representative.

Seattle Symphony Principal Timpanist Eric Schweikert Premieres Joseph Pereira's Virtù

In the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Symphony principal timpanist Eric Schweikert will step to the front of Benaroya Hall on November 19, 21, and 22 to perform the world premiere of Virtù, a co-commissioned 20-minute concerto for five—5—timpani and string orchestra by composer and Los Angeles Philharmonic principal timpanist Joseph Pereira alongside Mozart's Requiem under Music Director Xian Zhang and the Seattle Symphony Chorale, Hoodline reported.

Virtù alludes to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Bartók's Second Piano Concerto and gives Schweikert—now in his fourth season after joining in 2023/2024 following 34 years with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Purdue University Fort Wayne—three orchestral rehearsals before opening night. Schweikert previously performed Philip Glass's 2000 Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra (premiered November 19, 2000 at Avery Fisher Hall), while Pereira previously composed Threshold in 2018 and his Percussion Concerto in 2012 after serving with the New York Philharmonic (1997 or 1998 to 2008) and joining the LA Phil in 2007 or 2008, following precedents such as Joseph Schwantner's 1992–93 percussion concerto for the New York Philharmonic's 150th-anniversary season and James Oliverio's three timpani concertos noticed in a 2014 Valdosta Daily Times report. Co-commissioner New Jersey Symphony and principal timpanist Gregory LaRosa will present the East Coast premiere April 1 through 4, 2027, as part of 54 mainstage programs across five New Jersey cities in the 2026/27 season after Pereira's 2025 LA Phil commission.