November 8, 2016: America chose its next President. January 20, 2017: Donald Trump took the Oath of Office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. November 6, 2018: America chose a new Congress. January 21, 2019: The most diverse group of first-term Democratic members of Congress will take the Oath of Office.
Out of the 110 newly elected members of Congress, 66 Democrats and 44 Republicans will join Congress. 42 new women will join Congress, raising the total number of women to nearly 100 in both houses of Congress. Of those same 42, 38 are Democrats and 4 are Republicans. The Democratic members-elect are diverse and more representative of our country’s demographic. Republicans be represented by only one person of color: Representative-elect Anthony Gonzalez.
This new makeup of the Democratic party pushes the proportion of white men in the House of Representatives down from 41% to 38%. While hardly perfect, the Republican proportion will grow from 86% to 90% white men. Not all of this is fully within the control of the Republican party as they had a higher than usual rate of female members retiring this year. Many political pundits and commentators think that the “Blue Wave” took down some of the more moderate and diverse candidates running under the GOP platform such as women and other minority groups. Nevertheless, the Democrats have reaffirmed themselves as the party of diversity.
Perhaps the most well-known of all incoming representatives is the new Democratic Socialist poster child: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She will take the Oath of Office in January of next year as the youngest woman ever elected to the United States Congress. She defeated long-term incumbent Joseph Crowley, the soon-to-be former number four Democrat in the House, in their New York district’s primary. She ran an unabashedly progressive campaign, aligning herself closely with the political ideologies of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). She’s already established herself as a firebrand, something conservative outlets have gleefully pounced on. Eddie Scarry, a commentator for the Washington Examiner, stoked controversy when, in a now-deleted Tweet, he posted a picture of Ocasio-Cortez from behind wearing a jacket and commented that she “don’t look like a girl who struggles.” Scarry was criticized almost universally. Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter and Instagram accounts have almost 2 million combined followers, which gives her supporters incredible access to her campaign and to respond to tweets as asinine as Scarry’s.
Sharice Davids, the Democratic member-elect for Kansas’s third district, has the most colorful resume of any incoming member of this Congressional class. She is a Cornell-educated lawyer who had a brief Mixed Martial Arts career in 2010. As is the case with many of the Democratic candidates elected to Congress this year, her election made history in more ways than one. She didn’t just defeat Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder, she did so decisively, winning by a comfortable 9 points. Ms. Davids made history as the first openly gay Native American in Congress as well as the first openly LGBTQ member elected in Kansas’s congressional delegation and the first openly gay person representing Kansas on the federal level. She, along with member-elect Deb Haaland, will be the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Davids was the target of unnecessary homophobic and racist attacks by Michael Kalny. He wrote in a Facebook message that contained the sentence, “Your radical socialist kickboxing lesbian Indian will be sent back packing to the reservation!”
Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), both incoming congresswomen are the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress. Omar won her election with 78% of the vote against Jennifer Zielinski, the largest percentage of the vote of any female candidate for U.S. House in state history. Ms. Omar is the first Somali American elected to the U.S. Congress, the first Muslim former refugee to be elected to the House, and the first woman of color to serve as a U.S. Representative from Minnesota. As she enters Congress in January of next year, she will be met with open arms and quite possibly the abolition of the 181-year rule that bans the wearing of any type of headwear rule on the House floor.
Despite these steps toward a more representative Democracy, we have work to do. Far too many of our leaders today are so caught up in getting reelected that they vote for measures that go against their principals. Those that do stand for what they believe in often refuse to run for reelection, lest they suffer an embarrassing defeat to a younger, more principled upstart. Believing in something greater than yourself is the greatest thing you can do. It leaves a lasting impact on the world around you. Politicians need that little bit of fearlessness. They found that greater purpose in fighting for their values without fear.
We tend to, at the same time, demonize and place our politicians atop a pedestal. We forget that they are people just the same. They are fallible just as we are. This leads to worse representation that becomes a zero-sum game, which breeds a culture of me versus you. It pits us against neighbors, friends, family. We lose faith in elected offices because why wouldn’t we? Cynicism spreads and we lose interest because it all feels like too damn much.
To the current and future politicians: simplify and tell us a story. Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you the one to lead us? Give us a reason to care. Make us feel something. The passion has dimmed but is far from gone and the 2018 midterms proved that. These new Democrats did just that. They gave it everything they had and it paid off. They were fearlessly vulnerable and it paid off.
Although the election was almost a month ago, the incoming Democratic class is just getting started. They’re stepping right into a whirlwind of a political climate. Prepared for a fight along party-lines, members-elect also must find a voice within their own party if they wish to gather power within the caucus. This shouldn’t be a problem as these new Democrats have shown an innate ability to tell their story. They embrace what makes them unique rather than hide from it. They’re as fearless as anyone, ready to fight for what they believe in. This is just their next chapter. •
