Sunday Read: Record number of women-of-color candidates running for Congress

Office of Nancy Pelosi

Some of the women lawmakers of the 116th Congress of the United States.

One good thing that came from Donald Trump's victory in 2016: his Russian-assisted defeat of Hillary Clinton pissed off a lot of women.

Coming on the heels of the MeToo Movement of women being harassed and bullied at workplaces and reports of Trump's philandering, a historic number of women ran for Congress in 2018 -- and won.

This year, likely spurred by the actions of the current administration, including the judgements by the conservative judges appointed by Trump against women's right to choose, and the success and impact of the Congressional class of 2018 -- an even greater number of women of color are running for the U.S. Congress. 

The number of women of color — who identify as Black, Latina, Asian or Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern or North African, Native American or multiracial — running for the U.S. House jumped from 167 in 2018 to 248 this year. For the Senate, at least 18 women of color are running in 2020, compared with 12 in 2018 according to a report by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.  

“Nothing has been more wholesome in the political process than the increased involvement of women.”

— Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The 2018 congressional elections broke numerous records for racial and gender representation in Congress. The current Congress is the most diverse ever, with history makers such as Senators Tammy Duckworth and Kamala Harris joining Sen. Mazie Hirono;  Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected to Congress; Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim woman in the House; and Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, the country’s first Native American congresswomen. 

According to the Center, though women make up over 50% of the U.S. population, they are only 30% of House candidates and 24% of Senate candidates this year.

Currently, there are 101 women in the House of Representatives, comprising 23.2% of the 435 members in 2020. The women represent 34 states; 88 are Democrats and 13 are Republicans. 

Twenty-six women serve in the current U.S. Senate. Of these 26, four are women of color; 17 are Democrats, 9 are Republicans.

This year, among the Asian American women who will be running for Congress this November include: 

• Sara Gideon, an Indian American challenging incumbent Sen. Susan Collins; 
• Gina Ortiz Jones, a Filipina American running for Congress in a district that runs along the Texas-Mexico border; 
• Indian American Hiral Tipirneni is running in Arizona;
• Nina Ahmad, a Bangladeshi American for Pennsylvania
• Young Kim, a Korean American Republican running in Southern California; and
• Marilyn Strickland, a Korean American;  and  former Tacoma mayor is campaigning strongly in Washington.

If the Biden-Harris ticket wins in November, there will be strong pressure for Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a woman of color to replace Harris.

While the numbers seem to indicate a degree of progress, they are still far from representing the country's women, who make up just over 50 percent of the population.

The political preferences of women in general is reflected in the recent polls showing that women are picking Democratic nominee Joe Biden over Donald Trump by historic margins.

Biden is leading among registered women voters by 59% to 35%, a 25-point margin according to a July poll by the New York Times. That's a huge leap from his 19-point advantage earlier this year and the 14-point lead Hillary Clinton had in the final 2016 preelection polls of registered voters. Clinton had a 13-point edge with likely female voters.

If projections are accurate, the 117th Congress is poised to set new records for diversity and with the number of Asian American women likely to increase.