POLITICAL PIONEERS: VOTERS IN THE UNITED STATES ELECT TRAILBLAZING CANDIDATES

What is already the most diverse US Congress ever will become even more so after this week’s midterm elections, which broke barriers of race and gender.

For the first time, a pair of NativeAmerican congresswomen are headed to the House of Representatives, in addition to two Muslim congresswoman. Massachusetts and Connecticut will also send black women to Congress as firsts for their states, while Arizona and Tennessee are getting their first female senators.

The high-profile midterm cycle that produced a record number of women contenders and candidates of colour means a number of winners will take office as trailblazers. The inclusive midterm victories bode well for future election cycles, says Kimberly Peeler-Allen, co-founder of Higher Heights for America, a national organisation focused on galvanizing black women voters and electing black women as candidates.

“This is going to be a long process to get us to a point of proportionate representation, but tonight is a giant step forward for what leadership can and will eventually look like in this country,” Peeler-Allen said. She added that even women of colour who were unsuccessful will inspire a new crop of candidates, similar to the white women encouraged to run after Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential election loss.

Some of Tuesday’s black female pioneers, like Illinois nurse and Democrat Lauren Underwood and Connecticut teacher and Democrat Jahana Hayes, were first-time candidates. Others, like Massachusetts’ Ayanna Pressley, were political veterans. Most were considered longshots.

Several will represent districts that are majority white and that have been historically conservative, their victories a rejection of conventional wisdom on electability and the effects of gerrymandering that have historically assigned elected officials of colour to represent minority communities.

Also in the House, Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan will be the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.