5 WOMEN TO WATCH IN 2018’S HISTORIC MIDTERMS
A record number of women are running for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. From anti-gun-violence advocates to veterans and concerned mothers, meet five women fighting for their chance to be part of the most diverse government in U.S. history.
LUCY MCBATH, DEMOCRAT, GEORGIA
In 2012, Lucy McBath's world changed when her 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was shot and killed at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, during a dispute over the volume of the music he was playing in his car. Since her son's tragic death, McBath, a former Delta Airlines flight attendant, has tirelessly worked as a community organizer campaigning for gun safety and social justice reform. Now, despite the daunting task of running as a Democrat in a district that has voted Republican for over four decades, McBath maintains a positive outlook. She told The New York Times, "There truly is a blue wave in Georgia… and I don't think we've seen this much excitement and engagement in a really long time."
RASHIDA TLAIB, DEMOCRAT, MICHIGAN
Lawyer and advocate Rashida Tlaib is poised to become the first Muslim woman ever elected to Congress. Born and raised in Detroit by Palestinian parents, Tlaib, the eldest of 14 children and the first in her family to attend college, is no stranger to making history: in 2008, she became the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, where she served three terms. Currently working for a Detroit-based non-profit that supports low-income workers, Tlaib’s key campaign priorities include establishing a $15 minimum wage and securing Medicare-for-All. After winning a hard-fought Democratic primary in Michigan's 13th Congressional District, she will now run unopposed in November.
MARY JENNINGS (MJ) HEGAR, TEXAS
Air Force veteran MJ (Mary Jennings) Hegar is causing a stir in Texas. With a viral campaign ad that has over 2.5 million views, the born-and-raised Texan is challenging Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. John Carter for her chance to represent Texas' 31st Congressional District. With an impressive resume that reads like something out of an action movie, she will no doubt be a fierce opponent. Indeed, Hegar served three tours in Afghanistan as a search-and-rescue pilot and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor for her bravery. After retiring from active duty, Hegar joined a 2012 lawsuit spearheaded by the ACLU that successfully repealed an unconstitutional policy that banned women from partaking in ground combat. Now, with her bestselling memoir, Shoot Like a Girl, having caught the attention of a high-profile Hollywood studio, Hegar is undeniably a candidate to watch.
CRISTINA OSMEÑA, REPUBLICAN, CALIFORNIA
Cristina Osmeña came to the U.S. as a political refugee after her family was forced to flee the Philippines and the oppressive dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Raised in California, Osmeña pursued a successful career in finance and the solar power industry. She is the descendant of a famous Filipino political dynasty; her father is a former senator, and her great-grandfather, Sergio Osmeña, was President of the Philippines between 1944 and 1946. Running as a Republican on a platform that aims to tackle the rising cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area and provide law-abiding Dreamers a path to legal residency, Osmeña faces a tough battle ahead as she challenges U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier in California’s 14th Congressional District, a historically Democratic stronghold.
SHARICE DAVIDS, DEMOCRAT, KANSAS
A Native American woman has never served in Congress. Sharice Davids, a lawyer and former MMA professional fighter, wants to change that this election cycle. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Davids spent most of the last decade working with Native American communities across the U.S., helping to promote and improve economic opportunities. Most recently, she served as a White House fellow during the Obama-Trump transition. If successful in her bid this fall, Davids will become not only the first Native American woman elected to Congress but also one of its first openly LGBTQ members. Speaking to The Guardian, she observed, "The fact that we are in 2018 and we are still seeing all these firsts is mind-boggling to me... I feel like all of us are playing a role in this. This unprecedented number of women running for office – myself and a couple of other candidates who are native women – makes me very proud."
Visit WhenWeAllVote.org for more information about 2018’s midterms.