A woman's place is in the House (and Senate)

Barring an unlikely upset, New Mexico will have its first all-female House delegation in January, and — another historic milestone — all of them are women of color.

On June 6, four days after the primary vote, the Republican nomination for northern New Mexico’s congressional seat was finally called for Alexis Johnson, who identifies as Hispanic and Native American.
With that win, all six of the women running as major party candidates in the three races are either Latina or Native American women.
This would be not only the largest all-female U.S. House delegation in history, but the largest delegation of women of color.
New Hampshire and Hawaii have previously had two-person all-women delegations. New Hampshire made history in 2013 when it elected all-female delegations in both chambers.

The June 2 primaries saw historic gains for women in congressional races across the country.

Candidates in Iowa’s Senate race and two of the four House races are all women. Iowa didn’t send a woman to the House until 2018, and it sent its first woman to Congress when Joni Ernst won her Senate seat in 2014.
Two races in Indiana this fall will feature women on Republican and Democratic tickets, including Christina Hale, who could become the state’s first Latina congresswoman.
There were only 13 Republican women in the House in 2019, but primary voters nominated GOP women in several swing districts in Iowa, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

A record 558 women have filed to run for the U.S. House so far this year. That shatters 2018’s previous record, when 476 women ran.

However, Congress is still very unequal: Women represent just 26 percent of the Senate and 23 percent of the House.
Those numbers shrink even lower when it comes to women of color. Of the 127 women currently in Congress only 37 percent are women of color.

— Abby Johnston

What we're reading

The black women who paved the way for this moment. Black women have been at the forefront of the recent swell of protests. This shouldn’t be surprising: Black women have been leading the push for equity and inclusion in the United States for at least a century, occupying parks and the streets to amplify their message. (The Atlantic, June 9)

New pro sports venture puts women’s sports in the players’ hands. “Athletes Unlimited’s idea, which predated the pandemic, is to play a short season at one location, emphasizing individuals and online storytelling. No team owners, home cities or even fixed rosters.” (New York Times, June 8)

Ardern dances for joy after New Zealand eliminates coronavirus. Thanks, in part, to quick decisive action and strict lockdowns put in place by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand is free of coronavirus. Ardern, who has been praised for her leadership during the pandemic, celebrated by dancing with her two-year-old daughter, Neve. (Reuters, June 7)

Teenagers join pantheon of Nashville youth who harnessed peaceful protests to urge change. One of Nashville’s biggest demonstrations against police brutality was organized by six teenager girls who met on Twitter. "Change is coming," they wrote in an Instagram caption. "We see it, we feel it, we know it. A new revolution is on the way." (Nashville Tennessean, June 4)

📺 Watch: Beyoncé delivered a commencement speech to the class of 2020, using her own experience in the music industry to inspire women and people of color: “Not enough black women had a seat at the table. So I had to go out and chop down that wood and build my own table.”

🎧Listen: Radiolab producer Tracie Hunte on the prophetic, powerful music of Nina Simone, and why it resonates today. “I just keep thinking, ‘What would she be thinking about this moment? What would she have to say?’ And I don’t know — it feels like she already said it.”

A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE HOUSE (AND SENATE)

Gretchen Whitmer, Live With The 19th

LEFT BEHIND

What we're reading