While it didn’t amount to the overwhelming blue wave Democrats hoped for, midterm election night represented a number of historic firsts. Almost 100 women will take their seats in Congress in 2019, beating the previous record of 85. Contests throughout the country saw the first openly gay state governor and the first Native American women and first Muslim women winning national seats. That sense of change carried over into the speeches, both in victory and defeat, after the polls closed.

Ilhan Omar

Play Video 0:47 Ilhan Omar reacts to becoming the first Somali American in Congress – video

Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar celebrated her victory with a pair of phrases not typically heard in American politics, saying “as-salam alaikum” and “alhamdulillah”.

The symbolism of those everyday phrases for Muslim Americans being heard in the wake of one of the most racist and xenophobic campaigns ever waged by Republicans can’t be overstated.

“I stand here before you tonight as your congresswoman-elect with many firsts behind my name,” she said. “The first woman of color to represent our state in Congress. The first woman to wear a hijab. The first refugee ever elected to Congress. And one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.”

“When people were selling the politics of fear and division and destruction we were talking about hope,” she went on. “We were talking about the politics of joy,” she said.

Beto O’Rourke

Play Video 1:54 'I'm as hopeful as I've ever been': Beto O'Rourke fails to beat Ted Cruz – video

Even in defeat Beto O’Rourke illustrated why he came so close to defeating the Republican senator Ted Cruz in reliably red Texas.

“I’m as inspired, I’m as hopeful as I have ever been in my life. Tonight’s loss does nothing to diminish the way that I feel about Texas or this country,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke expressed his thanks to the groundswell of support he’d received around the state from his passionate supporters, using another phrase you don’t typically hear in political speeches.

“I want to thank this amazing campaign of people. Not a dime from a single Pac [political action committee]. All people, all the time, in every single part of Texas. All of you showing the country how you do this. I’m so fucking proud of you guys,” he said to riotous cheers.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Play Video 0:57 'A better world is possible': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez elected to Congress – video

In her victory speech in New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, reiterated her campaign message of economic injustice.

This is not “a campaign or an election day”, she said, “but a movement, a larger movement for social, economic and racial justice in America.”

“There is never any fight that is too big for us to pick. We proved that this year,” she added. “Because in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, our greatest scarcity is not a lack of resources but the absence of political courage and moral imagination.”

“It is a hollow goal to simply be a rich country that seeks to concentrate wealth. We must also be a good nation too.”

Stacey Abrams

Play Video 1:16 'Every vote is getting counted': Stacey Abrams refuses to concede – video

And while the results of her race have yet to be decided – she’s yet to concede to Brian Kemp in the knife-edge race for governor of Georgia – Stacey Abrams delivered one of the most passionate and inspiring speeches of the night.

“When you chose me as your Democratic nominee I made you a vow,” she said. “In our Georgia no one will be unseen, no one is unheard and no one is uninspired,” she said to cheers.

Calling for all of the absentee and mail ballots to be counted before the race is called, Abrams made reference to the voter suppressing tactics that Kemp, who is overseeing the election as the secretary of state, has been accused of.

“In Georgia, civil rights has always been an act of will and a battle for our souls,” she said.

“Democracy only works when we work for it. When we fight for it. When we demand it. And apparently today when we stand in lines for hours to meet it at the ballot box, that’s when democracy works,” she said.

Andrew Gillum

Play Video 2:17 Andrew Gillum concedes Florida governor race to Ron DeSantis on Tuesday night – video

Although he lost his race for governor in Florida, Andrew Gillum, another candidate who, like O’Rourke, we may not have seen the last of, vowed to maintain his fight in the days to come.

“We may not have all shown up in the way that we thought and hoped that we would. But I still believe that there are still more of us who believe in what is common and what is decent and what is right. And I believe that in the long run good always wins out over evil,” he said in front of a crowd of supporters.

“I sincerely regret that I couldn’t bring it home for you, but I can guarantee you this: I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to fight.”

It was a night that delivered some reason to be hopeful, even in defeat. As Elizabeth Warren, who easily won re-election to her seat in Massachusetts, put it, it was a call to fight back.

“Two years ago, on a very dark election night, millions of women watched in horror as Donald Trump was elected president,” she said.

“They didn’t like it. But they didn’t whimper. They didn’t whine. They fought back.”