The Republican wave produced groundbreaking results for minority candidates, from Latina and Indian-American governors to a pair of black congressmen from the Deep South. In New Mexico, Susana Martinez was elected as the nation's first female Hispanic governor. Nikki Haley, whose parents were born in India, will be the first woman governor in South Carolina, and Brian Sandoval became Nevada's first Hispanic governor.
Insurance company owner Tim Scott will be the first black Republican congressman from South Carolina since Reconstruction, after easily winning in his conservative district. Scott, a 45-year-old state representative, earned a primary victory over the son of the one-time segregationist U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond.
In Florida, veteran Allen West ousted a two-term Democrat to a House seat. He is the first black Republican elected to Congress from Florida since a former slave served two terms in the 1870s.
The last black Republican in Congress was J.C. Watts of Oklahoma. He left office in 2003. There were 42 black Democrats in Congress this term.
Several Latino Republicans defeated incumbent House Democrats. In Texas, Bill Flores snatched a seat from Rep. Chet Edwards, who had served 20 years in Congress, and Francisco Canseco beat Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. Jamie Herrera became the first Latino congressman from Washington state.
Opposition to President Barack Obama's agenda fueled Tuesday's GOP surge, and many also connected Obama to the rise of minority GOP candidates.
"Color is becoming less of an issue," said Richard Ivory, a black Republican political consultant and founder of hiphoprepublican.com. "There was a time when the white electorate saw race first and made judgments based on this alone. While black Republicans and Obama disagree ideologically, both are candidates whose message surpassed pigment."
Mark Sawyer, a UCLA professor and director of the university's Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, said Obama's election pushed the GOP to adjust to a more diverse electorate by seeking out minority candidates.
