Democrat Rashida Tlaib, a former Michigan state lawmaker, will now be one of the first Muslim women in Congress in November. She ran unopposed in a largely blue House district previously held by Rep. John Conyers — who resigned earlier this year in the wake of sexual harassment allegations — so she was expected to sail to victory.
Midterms 2018: Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress
Tlaib is a Detroit native who is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, and she ran on an unabashedly progressive campaign in the Democratic primary. She’s part of a wave of about 100 Muslim Americans who filed to run for Congress this year, a surge that one study has tied to growing pushback against rising Islamophobia during the Trump administration.
A strong grassroots campaign propelled Tlaib to victory in the primary, where she edged out Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones and Conyers’s great-nephew, state Sen. Ian Conyers. And she’s not the only Muslim woman who has made history this year — Ilhan Omar, a Muslim Somali immigrant who lived in a refugee camp before moving to the US, won the House seat formerly held by Keith Ellison in Minnesota.
Tlaib and Omar are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. They’re also so much more.
Ilhan Omar (pictured) and Rashida Tlaib are the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Stephen Maturen/Getty ImagesTuesday was a historic night for Muslim women in US politics.
Two Muslim women won their House races in Midwest districts. Democratic candidate Rashida Tlaib was elected in Michigan, without opposition, to replace Rep. John Conyers, who stepped down after facing sexual harassment allegations. In Minnesota, Democrat Ilhan Omar defeated Republican Jennifer Zielinski. Omar is replacing Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison — the first Muslim person elected to Congress — who on Tuesday won his race for state attorney general.
Read Article >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 >Rashida Tlaib is one of the first Muslim-American women elected to Congress
Rashida Tlaib smiles during a rally in Dearborn, Mich. Paul Sancya/APFormer Michigan state Rep. Rashida Tlaib has become one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, after winning her race for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District on Tuesday.
Tlaib is one of two Muslim women who were considered extremely likely to win the general election; the other is Ilhan Omar, a Muslim-American woman running in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.
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