Sep 25, 2018 - Politics & Policy
The 2019 Congress could shatter diversity records
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
If Democrats take back the House in November, 2019 could have more minority representatives in Congress than it's had in its 230-year history.
Why it matters: Congress would finally start to look more like the country it represents.
The big picture: 50 years ago, white men made up 97% of the House, Washington-based lobbying firm United by Interest outlines in their latest diversity memo, obtained first by Axios.
- But in 2017 (the latest recorded data), racial and ethnic minorities represented more than 45% of House Democrats, and women made up one-third of the Democratic chamber.
- Both numbers, which have been on a steady rise for years (as depicted in the above chart), are expected to grow this year, thanks to a historically high number of women candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections and groundbreaking primary wins by minority Democrats who overthrew their white incumbent challengers.
- Compare this to 2016: According to United by Interest, 40% of Hillary Clinton voters were minorities, while 88% of Donald Trump's voters were white.
The other side: While voters across the country are increasingly choosing to elect candidates who look like them, the media covering Congress are still lagging far behind with regard to diversity.
- According to a survey last year by the American Society of News Editors, 83% of the workforce at U.S. daily print and online media outlets is white, and 87% of leadership positions are occupied by white reporters and editors.
- Meanwhile, men represent 61% of the workforce at those news outlets, and a similar share of the industry’s leadership positions, according to the survey.
Go deeper: Meet Congress' potential history-makers in 2019.
