This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Northwestern chapter.
This year’s 2020 election had its ups and downs but one of its biggest celebrations was the women that were welcomed into or welcomed back to the House of Representatives and Senate.
Both Republicans and Democrats scored important seats in Congress, with many of those being women. Below are some fierce females to keep an eye out for in the upcoming years, regardless of your party:
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Ocasio-Cortez won District 14 in New York with a 68.8% majority, representing the Democratic Party. She ran on a progressive platform, calling for Medicare for all, housing as a human right, public safety, honoring undocumented immigrants, supporting Puerto Rico and elevating public education. In 2018, she became the youngest woman to serve in Congress at 29 years old and is endorsed by civil rights organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Democracy for America.
- Nancy Mace: In South Carolina, Mace won 50.6% of the vote in District 1, representing the Republican Party. Her platform advocated for a restoration of low country economy, opposition to offshore drilling and improving low country infrastructure. Mace worked on the 2016 Donald Trump campaign in South Carolina and is the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, a public military college in South Carolina.
- Sarah McBride: McBride is the first openly identifying transgender person to win a seat as a United States Senator for the Democratic Party. She won about 73% of the vote in Delaware on a platform supporting affordable healthcare, schools, expanding paid leave and reforming the criminal justice system. McBride has previously worked with the late Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden and later interned at the White House in 2012.
- Maria Elvira Salazar: Republican Salazar won District 27 in Florida with a 51.4% majority this year. Representing South Florida and the Miami area, Salazar ran on a platform of anti-socialism, term limits, affordable healthcare, protecting the environment and advocating for the public school system. She has previously worked as a journalist for Spanish networks Telemundo, CNN Español and Univision and has interviewed former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
- Ilhan Omar: Democrat Omar won 64.5% of the vote in District 5 of Minnesota. Her platform consisted of guaranteeing access to public education, establishing economic justice for working families, ensuring environmental justice, preventing gun violence and more. Omar is the first Somali American to represent Minnesota in Congress and one of two Muslim women in Congress as well.
- Yvette Herrell: Herrell, a Republican, won District 2 of New Mexico with a 53.8% vote. She champions for the state’s middle class, calling for more jobs and economic opportunities, protecting life and liberty, securing borders and advocating for farmers and ranchers. Herrell has previously served as Representative for District 51 for eight years and is the first Cherokee woman elected to Congress.
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