It was a historic midterm election. Democrats took back the House and it is certainly thanks to the women who ran for office. After (most) of the dust settled, 112 women were elected to Congress, the largest in this country’s history, along with many women being the first female governors of their respective states. There were numerous wins by women that were firsts in the history of the United States and we list some of them below:
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress. She will be representing New York’s 14th District.
- Two Native American women were elected into office. Sharice Davids of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a lawyer, a former MMA fighter, and openly gay, will represent Kansas’ 3rd District. Debra Haaland of the Pueblo of Laguna is a lawyer, a former tribal administrator, and was field organizer for Barack Obama, and she will represent New Mexico’s 1st District.
- Michelle Lujan Grisham was elected to be the first Democratic Latina governor. She will be serving New Mexico.
- Jahana Hayes is Connecticut’s first black woman in Congress and she will be serving the state’s 5th District. She was recognized as National Teacher of the Year in 2016.
- Two Muslim were elected into office too. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American in Congress, the first to wear a hijab in Congress, and the first refugee ever elected, will be serving Minnesota’s 5th District. Rashida Tlaib will be the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress and will represent Michigan’s 13th District.
- Angie Craig is the first lesbian mother to be elected to Congress and will be representing Minnesota’s 2nd District.
- Janet Mills will be Maine’s first female governor.
- Texas elected their first two Latina congresswomen this year. Sylvia Garcia will be representing the state’s 29th District while Veronica Escobar will serve the 16th District.
- Ayanna Pressley will be the first black woman from Massachusetts as a representative in Congress. She will be representing the 7th District.
- Marsha Blackburn, Republican, is the first woman from Tennessee to be elected to the Senate.
- Kristi Noem, Republican, will be the first female governor of South Dakota.
- Young Kim, Republican, was the first female Korean American elected to Congress. She will be representing California’s 39th District.
These are only some of the women who were elected and made history. In addition, there are still a few races to pay attention to as the days go on. Stacey Abrams, gubernatorial Democratic candidate in Georgia, refuses to concede until all votes are counted. Gina Ortiz Jones also will not concede in race against Republican US Rep. Will Hurd for Texas’s 23rd District but if she wins, she would be the first Filipino-American congresswoman. Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) and Martha McSally (Republican) are in an Arizona Senate race too close to call, but regardless of who will win, the state will have its first female senator.
This has been an exciting year and, in our opinion, has certainly been the Year Of The Woman.