US Mid-term Polls Elect Record Number Of Females, Including Two First-ever Muslim In Congress

The US mid-term polls that handed back the House of Representatives to the opposition Democratic party, also made a history by electing more than 100 females to the house, including the first-ever two Muslims women

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Nov, 2018 ) :The US mid-term polls that handed back the House of Representatives to the opposition Democratic party, also made a history by electing more than 100 females to the house, including the first-ever two Muslims women.

Most of the women elected to Congress are college-educated and many of them have a military background.

The elections also set several other milestones including the diverse representation beyond the gender divide. Those who made it to the house include the first Native American and the first Muslim women in Congress.

Rashida Talib from the Democratic Party won the Congressional district in Michigan, setting her up to become the first Palestinian-American woman elected to the house. Talib defeated five candidates from her party to win the ticket and unseated Republican Congressman John Conyers who resigned in December amid sexual harassment allegations.

Democrat Ilhand Omar, a Somali refugee, is the second Muslim woman to get to Congress and easily defeated her Republican opponent in a Minnesota district. She was favored to win in a state dominated by Democrats. She ran on the issues of Medicare for all, criminal justice reforms and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Wins for female candidates on Tuesday night weren't limited to Congress, with Maine and South Dakota electing their first female governors. There were also women candidates from the Republican party, who won the elections.

But, these were the women from the Democratic party, who played a critical role in winning a majority for their party in the House.

The final tally for women is likely to increase 100 in House of Representatives, both incumbents and the newly elected from both parties, and about a dozen in Senate.

Of the 28 seats that Democrats flipped to win back the majority, female nominees won in 18 of those races, though a number of top House seats where women are running have yet to be called.

"What a start this is," said former First Lady and Presidential candidate in 2016 election, Hillary Clinton. She said that over 100 women have been elected to Congress, including two first native Americans, and two Muslim women. A record 47 women were elected to the House in 1992, dubbed as "Year of the Woman".