Midterms see record number of women elected to Congress after two years of Trump
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Loading... - Blanca Cordova
- 07 Nov 2021
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A record number of women have been elected to Congress in the US midterm elections.
More than 100 women are on course to win election or re-election in races across the country.
The wave of female candidates comes nearly two years after women in the US and around the world took to the streets to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump.
The Democrats wrestled back the US House of Representatives after eight years of Republican control, with minority leader Nancy Pelosi set to be the next Speaker.
The huge win for the party was largely down to the number of female candidates who flipped the seats in their respective states.
Of the 23 women on ballots for the 100-seat U.S. Senate and 237 vying for the 435-seat House, more than 75 percent were Democrats, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
“It’s a bit of a partisan story,” said Rutgers political science professor Kelly Dittmar.
“This year we’ve seen a surge of women candidates that are both running for office and winning nominations, but much of that surge is happening among Democrats and not Republican women.”
Trump and his fellow Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate following a divisive campaign marked by fierce clashes over race, immigration and other cultural issues.
But with his party losing its majority in the House, the results represented a bitter setback for Trump after a campaign that became a referendum on his leadership.
Voters are on track to send at least 99 women to the house, surpassing the previous record of 84.
Voters in Minnesota and Michigan elected the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress.
Ilhan Omar is a a former refugee who fled Somalia's civil war while fellow Democrat and Rashida Tlaib is a Detroit-born Palestinian-American.
Democrats Sharice Davids, a lesbian mixed martial arts fighter, and Deb Haaland, became the first Native American women elected to Congress.
Democrat Jennifer Wexton defeated incumbent Republican Barbara Comstock in Virginia in one of the most closely-watched races across the country.
After defeating a long-time incumbent in a shock primary, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former Bernie Sanders organiser, became the youngest woman elected to Congress.
Increased support from female voters gave Democrats the boost they needed in what has been dubbed 'the year of the woman'.
Fifty-five percent of women said they backed a Democrat for the House this year, compared with 49 percent who in 2014 said they backed a Democrat in the congressional midterm elections.
Female candidates acknowledged the ground-breaking year in their victory speeches.
Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts tipped to run for president in 2020, said Trump America had ushered a new generation of women into public life.
After securing re-election, Warren said: "Women who had never run for anything stepped up to put their names on the ballot.
"They ignored the party bosses who said they should wait their turn. They ignored the consultants who said they should cover up their tattoos and smile more, and they ignored the powerful men of the Republican Party who never took them seriously anyway.
"They refused to let anyone shut them up or stand in their way, and that is how real change begins."
Ayanna Pressley, the first black woman elected to US congress from Massachusetts, said: "I am so honoured to share both the ballot and the stage with the many visionary, bold women who have raised their hand to run for public office.
"Now, listen, I know for a fact none of us ran to make history - we ran to make change.
"However, the historical significance of this evening is not lost on me. The significance of history is not lost on me, including my personal one."
Texas is set to send its first Hispanic women to congress, as Democrats Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia both won their races.
Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones in Texas narrowly missed out on becoming the first openly lesbian veteran elected to Congress in her close race.
