A record number of women will serve in Congress in January after the midterm elections produced a historic wave of female candidates from both parties.
The 118th Congress is slated to have 149 women serve in both houses next year, with only two female members in the current Congress.
However, significant progress has been made in increasing the number of women of color. Several states and districts have experienced historic “firsts” when it comes to representation.
More than half of the House’s incoming class of 22 freshmen will be women of color. Overall, the Chamber reached a high level with 124 women to take office.
Rep.-elect Mary Peltola, a Democrat from Alaska, will be the first Alaskan native to be sworn into Congress.
Elected Delia Ramirez, Democrat of Illinois, will be the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Midwest.
At a press conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Ms. Ramirez said she hoped to be “the first of many to come” from the Midwest, celebrating the strides made for diversity.
“I want you to look at us,” she said. “We are like America. We are young, we are younger, we are black, brown, Latino, South Asian. We represent people who work so hard every day just to make ends meet.”
Republicans will also break their record: 42 new women from the Republican Party will enter Congress.
Senator-elect Kathy Britt will become the first woman elected from the state of Alabama to the Senate, succeeding the retiring Senator Richard Selby.
“You will see the headlines that I am the first woman ever elected to the United States Senate from the state of Alabama,” Mrs. Britt said in her acceptance speech. “I don’t take any of these things for granted, and the seriousness of it all hasn’t stuck with me. I am humiliated. I am honored and grateful. I want you to know that I understand the enormous responsibility these milestones carry, and I don’t take it lightly.”
Her victory, along with the re-election victory of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, brings the number of women in the Senate to nine.
This year, Republicans gained one seat in the House of Representatives from the number of women, which increased from 32 to 33.
The GOP also gained three Hispanic women elected members, bringing their total to five Hispanic women holding Republican positions in the House of Representatives.
