Women of color show the power of their voices in high-ranking government positions. Especially at the state level and in Congress

By Allie Justis, Illustrations by Jessica Wetterer

44

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In the U.S. House of Representatives, out of the 435 members representing the entire nation, only 44 women of color hold seats within the House. This makes up only 10% of the House of Representatives. However, 4 out of 5 voting delegates presiding over the House are women of color.

2

In the Texas Senate, there are only two women of color, making up only 6.5% of the total Senate. These two women represent over 8.8 million women of color within Texas, and their names are Sen. Carol Alvarado and Sen. Judith Zaffirini.

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117

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In November, 117 women of color ran for office on the Democratic and Republican ballots. This seems to be a continuation of the same trend seen in the 2018 election cycle where there was a record-breaking number of women of color elected into the U.S. Congress. Texas’ very own Candace Valenzuela ran to become the first Black Latina in Congress this year.

18%

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On the Austin City Council there are two women of color that are currently serving the Austin area. Their names are Natasha Harper-Madison and Delia Garza. These women make up 18% of the council and have been on the council since 2019 and 2017, respectively.

3%

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Of the 127 women serving in the 116th U.S. Congress, only four senators are women of color, making up only 3%. However, although these women only have four seats in the Senate, they represent more than 70 million women of color nationwide. These for women are Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Sen. Mazie Hirono.


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