Minnesota’s Fifth District, which includes all of Minneapolis, hasn’t sent a Republican to Congress since 1962 — until now. The seat opened up this year when Rep. Keith Ellison stepped down to run for Minnesota attorney general, and now Democrat Ilhan Omar has won the seat.
Omar — a 36-year-old Somali refugee who immigrated to the United States when she was 12 — ran on a deeply progressive platform, supporting Medicare-for-all, tuition-free college, and criminal justice reform. Given this district’s solidly blue history, she was favored to win.
Her victory is historic: Along with Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, who ran unopposed, Omar now becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
What happens when women win elections
The 2018 midterms were huge for women candidates. In Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn became the state’s first woman senator. In Massachusetts, Ayanna Pressley is the first African-American woman elected to the House from Massachusetts. In Maine, voters chose Janet Mills to be the state’s first woman governor. And Sharice Davids, Deb Haaland, and Yvette Herrell became the first Native American women elected to Congress.
A total of 273 women were on the ballot in the 2018 midterms, representing both parties. By comparison, an average of 171 women advanced past their gubernatorial and congressional primaries in the past five elections.
Read Article >Democrat Ilhan Omar becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress
Democrat Ilhan Omar becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to the House of Representatives. Jeff Baenen/APMinnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar has become one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, easily winning the election in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District — the Minneapolis-area district previously represented by Keith Ellison — on Tuesday.
Omar, a 36-year-old Somali refugee who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, beat Republican Jennifer Zielinski to take Ellison’s seat, which he vacated to run for Minnesota attorney general.
Read Article >Trump won the Rust Belt with macho. These women hope to win with change.
Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan visit with patrons at a restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, on August 7, 2018. Carlos Osorio/APDETROIT, Michigan — After Hillary Clinton lost the Rust Belt to Donald Trump, some Democrats argued that it would take machismo to win back white, blue-collar men. But this year’s midterm election looks set to prove them wrong. In 2018, it’s women who are poised to deliver the region for Democrats.
Women candidates like Gretchen Whitmer, the Democrat expected to make it to the governor’s mansion; Mari Manoogian, a Democrat running for state representative; and Mallory McMorrow, also a Democrat, running for the state Senate are all on the ballot in Michigan, the heart of the Rust Belt. And all have a strong shot at winning.
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