‘We Call Ourselves the Badasses’: Meet the New Women of Congress

The history-making class of new women on Capitol Hill is here, and its members have a lot to say.

By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | Photographs By JASON GROW | Jan. 18, 2019

When millions of women took to the streets the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration for the largest single-day protest in American history, they were galvanized by a frustration with our nation’s politics and culture. Two years later, that energy and anger have been translated into an unprecedented number of electoral victories for women—mostly Democratic—in the recent midterm elections.

When 27 new women were ushered into the House and Senate in 1992, pundits deemed it the “Year of the Woman.” In 2018, that record was shattered, and now, for the first time ever, more than 100 women have been sworn in to the House of Representatives, just over a century after the first woman was sworn in to Congress in 1917.

POLITICO Magazine recently photographed and interviewed all 36 freshman women in the 116th Congress. In addition to being the youngest and most diverse freshman class Capitol Hill has ever seen, the group includes a number of state and national firsts—from the first Muslim women to the first Native American women. Not that they’re bragging about it. “None of us ran to be the first anything,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) told POLITICO. “We ran to make a difference. We ran to make change. It’s nice to make history, too, but that’s not why we ran.”

The new members range from the youngest-ever women in Congress—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) were both 29 when elected—to experienced pols such as Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), who previously served in the 111th, 113th and 114th sessions, and former Clinton Cabinet secretary Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), who at 77 is the oldest female freshman representative in history.

Some of these women—like Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who recently told supporters, “We’re gonna impeach the motherfucker”—have already come out swinging against the president. Others told POLITICO that they’re hopeful the influx of women will lead to a more cooperative and bipartisan legislature. They all, however, seem to hope and believe that their presence will fundamentally change how Washington works. And they’ve already begun.

Ann Kirkpatrick

Democrat, Arizona 02

“I was here in 2009 when we passed the ACA. I was told I would lose my next election if I voted for it, but it was the right thing to do, and I did lose my next election. I came back in 2012 and 2014, ran for Senate in 2016 [and lost], and I didn’t think I was going to run for office again. But when the Republicans voted for their bill that would have kicked 20 million people back off of health care, I said: ‘I’ve fought too hard. I’ve paid the price for this. I’m going to run.’”

Jahana Hayes

Democrat, Connecticut 05

“With us at the table, Congress will be forced to remember that it’s not just about line items and budgets, but about how these things impact people’s lives.”

Debbie

Mucarsel-Powell

Democrat, Florida 26

“Congress has been set on certain bureaucracies, rules and policies that haven’t been changing with the times. There are some structural changes that we need to look at, but it’s not going to happen overnight, and I’m very pragmatic and very practical about that.”

Donna Shalala

Democrat, Florida 27

“When you put women into the mix and you don’t ignore half the population, it does make a difference in the quality of legislation—how we think about improving people’s lives, our passion for getting it done and probably our no-nonsense approach.”

Lucy McBath

Democrat, Georgia 06

“I hope that we can break down the walls, the barriers, and find solutions for the people that we represent. As you see, when we don’t do that, people suffer. They’re hurting. And that’s not the role of government.”

Lauren Underwood

Democrat, Illinois 14

“It’s very clear that, for a long time, decisions being made in our country were a result of one point of view. Now, we have different voices, and we’re representing people whose stories and concerns have not been heard in Congress, so that’s going to be a tremendous change.”

Sharice Davids & Debra Haaland

Democrat, Kansas 03 | Democrat, New Mexico 01

“I think the real effects of what happened this election cycle will not be seen until generations from now, because this is the beginning of a resetting of expectations about who runs for office, why they run for office and where they run for office from.” *–Davids*

Rashida Tlaib

Democrat, Michigan 13

“It brings me a lot of hope that many of us don’t represent communities that have the same faith or ethnicity or background as us. What makes the story even more incredibly inspiring is the fact that it was American people that didn’t share our faith that made history.”

Angie Craig

Democrat, Minnesota 02

“Though we may have a lot of firsts by our names, what really distinguishes this group of women is how dedicated to fighting for our constituents we are.”

Ilhan Omar

Democrat, Minnesota 05

Susie Lee

Democrat, Nevada 03

“Sometimes reform of Congress is a generational thing, and I think that this generation is craving some changes here in Washington.”

Alexandria

Ocasio-Cortez

Democrat, New York 14

“The idea that a freshman member could come in and be effective by doing things differently was just so cynically dismissed for so long. … What’s so exciting is not just the firsts, not just the identities, not just the diversity, but the energy that all these freshmen bring.”

Chrissy Houlahan

Democrat, Pennsylvania 06

“I think that veterans—and women in particular—have a heritage of team-building, collaboration and pragmatism that I think is really needed right now when we’re a very, very divided nation. I’m hopeful that we’ll bring a fresh set of legs into what is kind of a dysfunctional environment.”

Lizzie Pannill Fletcher

Democrat, Texas 07

“We want a government that functions all the time and that has a process for dealing with disagreement. … Find the places where we agree and move forward on those, and find the places where we disagree and dig in, debate and come to some kind of consensus or resolution.”

Carol Miller

Republican, West Virginia 03

“Women hold so many positions—as wives and mothers and fully employed—that it takes a special woman who’s willing to go out of that zone, so to speak, to step into public service. Because when you do, your life is never the same.”

Shot at the Harvard Kennedy School in December and the U.S. Capitol in January. Produced by Katie Ellsworth, Megan McCrink, Janet Michaud and Lily Mihalik. Hair and makeup by Maryelle O’Rourke and Kim Reyes. Video by Brooke Minters, Mary Newman, Ali Rizvi and Martin Del Vecchio. Special thanks to Matt DeBruycker, Jeff Kent, Asia Kepka, Jonathan Kozowyk and Audrey Lew.

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‘We Call Ourselves the Badasses’: Meet the New Women of Congress