House Democratic women pose for "class photo"
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and the women of the House Democratic caucus gathered on the steps of the Capitol Building Wednesday to pose for a "class photo."
The 65 House Democratic women who were sworn into the 114th Congress make up the largest number of women ever in a party caucus in the history of Congress, according to Pelosi's office. The caucus includes three non-voting delegates from Guam, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Counting just the voting members, there are a total of 104 women serving in the new Congress, according to a tally compiled by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers. Twenty women will serve in the Senate this year (14 Democrats and six Republicans), while a record 84 women (62 Democrats and 22 Republicans) will serve in the House.
Before the 2014 midterms, there were 99 women in Congress. While there are slightly more women in Congress this year, they still make up just about 20 percent of the federal government's legislative branch.
There is also a record number of women of color in the House this year at 32, including 18 African-American women (17 Democrats and one Republican), nine Latinas (seven Democrats and two Republicans) and five Asian/ Pacific Islander-Americans (all Democrats).
Rep. Mia Love of Utah is the first female African-American Republican in Congress. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, is the youngest woman to serve in Congress at age 30.
In the Senate, Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, is the only woman of color.
This year's GOP caucus includes six female senators, the largest number for the GOP Senate caucus today. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst was the first woman elected to Iowa's congressional delegation ever.
Meanwhile, this year there are just five women (two Democrats and three Republicans) serving as governors.
