By Capri Gahr
Student Reporter
A record number of women were elected to congress, along with many other firsts and records broken.
There was a former N.F.L. linebacker, a climate scientist, and a rapper with a Harvard Law degree; there is one immigrant from
Somalia and another from Ecuador, and there are two former C.I.A. officials, an Air Force veteran, a former Navy helicopter pilot, and a retired Marine commander — all of them women that raced for elections in U.S. midterms. Not to mention a pediatrician and a human rights advocate, all running for elected positions.
The amount of women elected to congress in the recent midterm election is 107 women; 35 of which are women of color.
This number breaks the record of women in congress that was set in 1992. The number of women that was previously set was 24. This historic win for women was accompanied by other firsts.
More women were elected to all positions that were voted on in this year’s election than any point in U.S. history.
A record 33 of the midterm matchups for Congress were women vs. women.
The youngest woman ever elected to congress is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Two Native American women were elected to congress, making them the first Native American women ever elected to that position.
Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, born in Detroit to Palestinian parents, and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, who arrived in the United States from Somalia at age 14, won their House races, becoming the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who won the backing of former president Barack Obama and
Oprah Winfrey, was aiming to be the first black female governor in the nation.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party are the first Muslim women in Congress.
The highest number of early votes was recorded. The amount spent on campaigns during this election cycle broke all previous records. Four years ago, the amount of voters participating in the election was 84 million compared to this year’s 14 million.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emily’s List, an influential Democratic-leaning group that supports women in politics said “This is only just the beginning,” and “I think we are going to see a historical turnout of women in 2020 — this is not dying down.”
The amount spent on campaigns during this election cycle broke all previous records. The total spent reached more than $5.2 billion. This is a 35% increase on four years ago and the largest increase in at least two decades.
Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who identifies as bisexual, is already the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey came out as gay before he stepped down from office in the early 2000s. Jared Polis is the first openly gay man ever elected governor.
Democratic nominee Christine Hallquist, already made history as the first transgender major party nominee for governor.
Texas voters elected the state’s first two Hispanic women to Congress as Veronica Escobar won the seat to replace Rep. Beto O’Rourke in the congressional district near El Paso. O’Rourke gave up his seat in order to unsuccessfully run for Senate.