By Lauren Azrin--
The 2018 Midterm elections were a major win for many different groups, breaking history in multiple states in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity of Congressmen. Here’s a rundown of the records that were broken this past election day.
Exciting and groundbreaking things happened for women on Election Day. According to ELLE, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress, at the age of 29. She now represents parts of NY, such as the Bronx and Queens. Marsha Blackburn is now the first woman to ever be a senator in Tennessee. Similarly, Arizona has elected Kyrsten Sinema, the state’s first woman senator. Also, over 100 women were elected to Congress, setting new records over the previous number of just 85.
History was also made for various women of color. Ilhan Omar, who came to the United States as a refugee, and Rashida Tlaib became the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress, Omar representing Minnesota and Tlaib representing Michigan.
Additionally, records were broken for many black women. Ayanna Pressley became the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress in the 7th Congressional district. Juliana Stratton was named as lieutenant governor, making her the first black woman to hold this position in Illinois. Letitia James was elected as the first black attorney general of New York. Jahana Hayes became the first black Congresswoman for Connecticut. Lauren Underwood became the first black woman to win her Congressional district Illinois.
Nineteen Black women who ran for judicial seats in Harris County, Houston, Texas, won their races, creating the biggest win for Black women that this county has ever seen.
History was also made for Native American women. Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Haaland of New Mexico became the first Native American women elected to Congress. Additionally, Davids is also the first openly-gay Native American woman in Congress.
LatinX women were given many reasons to celebrate, as Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar became the first LatinX women elected into Congress to represent Texas. Michelle Lujan Grishman became the first LatinX woman to be a Democratic Governor.
The LGBTQ+ community celebrated as Jared Polis became the country’s first openly gay male governor and as Angie Craig became the first LGBTQ mom ever elected to Congress.
Kalan Haywood became the youngest state legislator in Wisconsin, and most likely in the entire U.S., at the age of 19.
These new and groundbreaking records set goals for what’s to come and give our country hope for flourishing diversity in government.