At least 135 female candidates have been voted in to office in 2020, the highest number ever
(Clockwise from left) Vandana Slatter; Rashida Tlaib (Rebecca Cook / Reuters); Sarah McBride (Brendan McDermid / Reuters); Ilhan Omar (Eric Miller/ Reuters); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Andrew Kelly / Reuters); Ayanna Pressley (M. Santiago/Pool via Reuters) and Stephanie Byers (Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
As Kamala Harris is elected the next Vice President of the United States, she becomes the first Black, the first Indian-American and the first woman to serve the office. Along with Harris, female candidates across the country have broken records, as 2020 sees the highest number of women elected into US Congress.
As of Monday, 135 women, comprising 103 Democrats and 32 Republicans (more than any other election cycle for the party), won in their districts, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Women still make up just about a quarter of the 535 seats in both the House and the Senate.
In total, 48 black women will serve in Congress, out of which 46 are Democrats. So far, the elected female representatives include 11 Latinas, nine LGBTQ+ representatives, six women of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, two Native Americans, and one of Middle Eastern of North African descent, according to news reports.
All four representatives of colour belonging to the progressive “Squad” of Democratic congresswomen won re-election. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, have championed climate action and universal health care, apart from fighting racism and sexism in Capitol Hill.
Forbes India looks at some of these women from diverse backgrounds who have made it to the US House of Representatives: