World
The US Congress has only 19% women
Updated : Aug 19, 2016, 10:21 AM IST
As Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton targets to break the "highest glass ceiling" in the United States (US), three Indian-Americans figure in a list of 19 women who could make history if elected to the US Congress in November.
In a Congress that has only 19% women, over a dozen women from both sides of the aisle could end up breaking barriers if elected in the November polls, the popular Cosmopolitan magazine said as it released the list of the women.
Here are the three Indian-American women who figure in the list:
Pramila Jayapal, who is running for House of Representatives from Washington state:
Join us as we interview #WA07's @PramilaJayapal LIVE, at 11am today, here at @KCTS9! https://t.co/YDvVhDGIiN #WAelex pic.twitter.com/QQKxgex9Bf
— KCTS 9 (@KCTS9) August 11, 2016
Kamala Harris, who is seeking to enter the Senate from California:
Thankful to have the support of @MoveOn, an organization that always stands up for working people in this country. pic.twitter.com/sEYhuKQFho
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 19, 2016
Lathika Mary Thomas, who is running for the House on a Republican ticket from Florida:
NEW Endorsement: @MaryThomasEsq for Congress! #Election2016 #womeninpolitics pic.twitter.com/wYwC97fNbz
— WUFPAC (@wufpac) August 17, 2016
Jayapal and Harris are from Democratic party. If elected, Harris would be the second black woman in Senate after Carul Mosley Braun in 1992 and the first Indian-American in the Senate. Harris, who has been endorsed by US President Barack Obama is currently the California Attorney-General.
Jayapal, who earned an endorsement from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, would be the first Indian-American woman in Congress, if she wins the elections in November. According to latest polls, both Jayapal and Harris are expected to win their respective elections.
Like Jayapal, Latika Mary Thomas if elected to the US House of Representatives seat from Florida would be the first Indian-American woman in the Congress. Ami Bera from California is the only Indian-American Congressman in the current Congress. He is among the three Indian-Americans elected to the Congress ever.
Among other women politicians who figure in this list are Denise Gitsham, who if elected would be the first Republican Chinese-American in the Congress; Misty Snow, who could become the first openly transgender person in the Congress and Tammy Duckworth, who could become the first Thai-American to be elected to the US Senate.