Some of the newly elected members of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, November 14, 2018
Members of the 116th Congress of the United States were sworn in on January 3, 2019. In terms of sex, ethnicity and race, and religion, it is the most diverse group of representatives and senators in the nation’s history. With the seating of the “freshman” class (those elected for the first time) of representatives and senators in Congress, there are now 102 women in the House of Representatives and 25 female senators, a record for female representation in each chamber, and in Congress as a whole. Of the incoming senators, Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the first women elected to the Senate from their states.
Among the new faces in the House are several historic firsts for Congress, in terms of ethnic or racial minority representation. Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Haaland of New Mexico are the first Native American women to serve as representatives. Democrats Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota became the first Muslim women elected to the House. Omar is also the first Somali American, and Tlaib the first Palestinian American woman, to be elected to Congress. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, is the first Korean American in Congress since 1999. Ayanna Pressley and Jahana Hayes are the first African American congresswomen to represent their respective states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, while Democrat Joe Neguse is the first African American to be elected to the House from Colorado. Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia, both Democrats, are the first Latinas elected to Congress from Texas.
In terms of religion, 88.2 percent of members of the 116th Congress identifies as Christian. Jewish members make up 6.4 percent, the highest percentage in American history. Democrats Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota became the first Muslim women elected to the House. Adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism are represented as well, and the number of members who chose not to specify a religious affiliation increased.
Image credit: © AFP/Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
- Congress’s Incoming Class Is Younger, Bluer, and More Diverse than Ever
Congress members’ photos illustrate groupings by various measures of diversity.
(Source: Politico.com, November 23, 2018)
- Just How Diverse Is the New Congress?
Report on diversity in the 116th Congress; includes dynamic graphs of congressional membership by race and ethnicity as well as by gender.
(Source: Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2019)
- 116th United States Congress
Full detail on membership of the 116th Congress, including political party affiliation, leadership, demographics, state congressional delegations, and more.
(Source: Wikipedia; accessed January 16, 2019
- No Other Congress Has Ever Looked Like This
Summary of the diversity “firsts” in the new Congress.
(Source: CNN.com, January 4, 2019)