{"id":201927,"date":"2025-03-10T14:59:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T18:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=201927"},"modified":"2025-03-26T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T19:46:59","slug":"119th-congress-brings-firsts-for-women-of-color","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/03\/10\/119th-congress-brings-firsts-for-women-of-color\/","title":{"rendered":"119th Congress brings firsts for women of color"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sen.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks is sworn in at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2025, the first day of the 119th Congress. Alsobrooks is one of two Black women currently serving in the Senate. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 119th Congress was sworn in Jan. 3, marking several milestones for women of color. In the Senate, two Black women are serving concurrently for the first time. And in the House, two states and one U.S. territory elected their first Black, Hispanic or Pacific Islander woman lawmaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, there are 61 women of color in the 119th Congress. Together they represent 24 states as voting members, as well as three territories and the District of Columbia as nonvoting delegates. This total includes five senators \u2013 the highest number in history \u2013 according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Senate and House records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

This analysis is part of a long-running Pew Research Center series analyzing the demographic makeup of the U.S. Congress. It builds on an earlier Center analysis of how many states have ever elected a non-White woman to Congress. For this piece, we used the race and ethnicity categories from U.S. House and Senate historical records<\/a> and CQ Roll Call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All racial groups in this analysis refer to single-race non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of any race. The two multiracial lawmakers in this analysis are counted once in the overall total, but they are included in the counts for each of the racial and ethnic groups they identify with. Portuguese lawmakers are not counted with Hispanic members. Lawmakers of Middle Eastern and North African descent<\/a> are counted with the racial group they self-identify with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For consistency with other recent analyses of the 119th Congress\u2019 membership, this analysis reflects the 539 voting and nonvoting members seated as of Jan. 3, 2025 \u2013 the first day of the new Congress. It does not include the Florida House seat former Rep. Matt Gaetz<\/a> vacated before the term started or the Senate seat former West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice<\/a> assumed Jan. 14. It excludes members seated later, notably Florida Sen. Ashley Moody<\/a>, a Republican appointee sworn in Jan. 21.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Related: <\/em><\/strong>Women account for 28% of lawmakers in the 119th Congress \u2013 unchanged from the last Congress<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This analysis is part of a long-running series of Center publications analyzing the demographic makeup of the U.S. Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty-one of the 61 women of color in the new Congress are Black, 19 are Hispanic and nine are Asian. Two are Pacific Islander, and Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids<\/a> of Kansas is Native American. (Multiracial Rep. Marilyn Strickland<\/a>, a Washington Democrat, is both Black and Asian; she is counted in both categories in this analysis, but only once in the overall total.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of women of color in the new Congress is the same as it was at the start of the 118th Congress, which was sworn in January 2023. This is the first Congress in about 15 years to have a count that is not <\/em>higher than the one before it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, women of color have made some gains in the 119th Congress:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n