Democrat Angela Alsobrooks has won Maryland’s Senate race, NBC News projects, defeating popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and becoming the first Black woman elected to represent the state in the Senate.

The unusually competitive contest to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin was always a must-win for Democrats, who are trying to hang onto their Senate majority. It also means that, for the first time in history, Maryland will have a Black senator, governor and mayor of its largest city, Baltimore.

Alsobrooks’ victory, along with Democratic Sen.-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester’s in Delaware, also means that the Senate will have two Black women next year for the first time in history.