This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brandeis chapter.
Men have had their chance. It’s far past time for more female representation in Congress–and the 2018 midterms elections have shown how that is becoming an increasingly popular opinion. Over 100 women were elected to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, and more than 20 were elected to the Senate (CNN). It remains a small fraction, but it’s definitely a start. Here are just some of the women who were elected last week:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Democrat, New York’s 14th Congressional District
Bio: At 29 years old, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress. She won 78% on her district’s vote to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Political Positions: Ocasio-Cortez supports tuition-free public schools and universities, a single-payer health care system, a “path to citizenship” for immigrants, and abolishing ICE.
Mikie Sherrill
Democrat, New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District
Bio: Mikie Sherrill is both a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot AND a former federal prosecutor. How much more badass does it get?!
Political Positions: Sherrill supports universal healthcare and a woman’s right to choose. She has plans to tackle gun violence, the opioid crisis, and climate change in New Jersey.
Rashida Tlaib
Democrat, Michigan’s 13th Congressional District
Bio: Rashida Tlaib is one of the first Muslim-American women and the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress! She used to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives.
Political Positions: Tlaib supports a $15 minimum wage, abolishing ICE, and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
Lizzie Fletcher
Democrat, Texas’ 7th Congressional District
Bio: Lizzie Fletcher went to Kenyon College (which is where my dad went!) and was a lawyer before she decided to run for Congress.
Political Positions: Fletcher hopes to help pass legislation for gun safety, comprehensive immigration reform, voting reform, and increasing access to women’s healthcare.
Michelle Lujan Grisham
Democrat, Governor of New Mexico
Bio: Lujan Grisham is the first woman to be elected governor of New Mexico and the first Latina Democrat to be elected governor in the United States! She has served in the US House of Representatives.
Political Positions: Lujan Grisham supports access to abortion, regulating greenhouse gas emissions, overturning Citizens United, protection for LGBT+ youth in public schools, and raising the federal minimum wage.
Sharice Davids
Democrat, Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District
Bio: Davids is the first openly gay Native American in Congress!
Political Positions: Davids plans to fight against restrictions to voting, for gun safety, for DACA recipients and undocumented immigrants, and against climate change.
*Information comes from Vox, Wikipedia, and the candidates’ websites