U.S. News

Analysis: The Congressional Races Become More Diversified

This is History in The Making

Reporter Kaia Hutton

The outcome of the 2020 Congressional races were filled with firsts. Diversity of the candidates was much more prevalent in the races this year, being that there were POC, candidates with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

In Missouri, Cori Bush is now the first black congresswoman in history and is running as a democrat, announcing, “It is the greatest honor of my life to accept the responsibility to serve every single person across Missouri's first congressional district as your first ever black congresswoman elect.” She is a strong Black Lives Matter activist, and states, “ This is our movement, y'all!”

Ritchie Torres is the first Afro-Latino and gay man elected into Congress. He won New York's 15th congressional district. Torres is currently the youngest member of the New York City Council and strongly advocates for police reform.

Madison Cawthorne is known as the youngest member of congress, at just 25 years of age. He was in a devastating car accident, leaving him paralyzed from the abdomen down. He states, “At 20, I thought about giving up. However, I knew I could still make a difference. My accident gave me new eyes to see, and new ears to hear.” He shows hope, however, being that he is now the US Representative-elect for North Carolina's 11th congressional district.

Mondaire Jones, another openly gay black man and a lawyer, graduating from Harvard Law School, also won a seat in the state of New York in it’s 17th District, stating “If you dream big and fight hard, you can acheive the American dream”.

In Delaware, Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender state senator in United States history. Mcbride is the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign.

Vermont also elected its first openly transgender lawmaker, Taylor Small. Small won a Winooski house seat in the two-seat District. Small’s campaign primary focuses on equal access to healthcare, and is the health and wellness director at a Vermont pride Center.

For the Congressional races, 35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats were up for election on November 3, 2020. Incumbents often have more success in office, being that they already have experience in running their campaigns. For example, Mitch McConnel, a member of the Kentucky State Senate, has been in office since 2007.

Every two years, voters elect all of the members of the House and one-third of the Senate. Although the Constitution lays out certain rules about how members of Congress should be elected, the states determine the details of elections such as who can vote, how the votes will be counted, and the appearance of the ballots.

This Congressional election has made history, due to the fact that diversity in politics is only advancing as the days go on. With people running for office, on all spectrums, there may be a day in sight where everybody can be counted as equal.