There will be a record 24 women in U. S. Senate next year.
After Republican State Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith won her bid to represent Mississippi in U. S. Senate in Tuesday’s special runoff election, there will be a record 24 women in Senate next year.
Hyde-Smith defeated Democratic challenger Mike Epsy, a former congressman and agriculture secretary in the last Senate race to be decided in 2018.
The Republican’s win sets a new record for the representation of women in Senate, bringing the number of women serving up by one more than the current high, which was set during this Congress.
U. S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) exits the stage after giving her victory speech during an election night event at The Westin Hotel, November 27,2018 in Jackson, Mississippi. Hyde-Smith defeated Democratic candidate Mike Espy in Tuesday’s U. S. Senate special runoff election in Mississippi. Drew Angerer/Getty
Hyde-Smith’s victory also makes her the first woman to be elected to Congress from Mississippi, adding her name to a diverse list of Congress-elects who made history this year.
Among them are Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who became the first Muslim women elected to Congress, Democrats Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, who became the first Native American women to join Congress, Ayanna Pressley, also a Democrat, who became the first black woman to be elected to Congress from Massachusetts and Democratic representative Kyrsten Sinema, who is set to become the country’s first openly bisexual senator, in addition to becoming Arizona’s first female senator.
