Women Break Records in Midterm Elections
posted by Dominque Elliot | December 5, 2018 | In NewsThis midterm election from November had ground-breaking results. A record-breaking number of officials with diverse personalities, religions, class status, and sexualities were elected.
FSU student Staisha Cain commented, “It’s great to have not only more women in office but more cultural diversity.”
According to the Central American Women and Politics, 126 women will serve overall, increasing the percentage of women in Congress from 20% to 23.6%. Of those women, 106 are democrats while 28 are Republicans. Women of color represent 47 of the 126 women.
In the House of Representatives 102 of women will serve, including the 43 women of color. In the Senate 24 women will serve, including 4 of women of color. Nine women overall will serve as governors in 2019. Of the nine women, one is a women of color. According to the CAWP, a record umber of freshman officials, never-elected, were elected into the House of Representatives at 34. The previous record was 24 from 2016.
Time Magazine stated: “Democrats Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib became the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Republican Marsha Blackburn became Tennessee’s first female senator. Democrats Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids became the first Native American women elected to Congress. Republican Kristi Noem became South Dakota’s first female governor.”
Although she lost to her competition Phil Scott, transgender candidate Christine Hallquist, was the first openly transgender person nominated for governor.
According to CAWP, three states will send their first women to the U.S. Senate in 2019. Arizona voted in its’ first woman Kyrsten Sinema, Tennessee voted in its first woman Marsha Blackburn, and Mississippi voted in its first woman Cindy Hyde-Smith, “bringing the number of states who have never had a woman senator down to 18.”
Having diversity in Congress could possible allow more voices to be heard on important issues that affect certain communities.
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