The Faces of Change in the Midterm Elections
In the 2018 midterm elections, diversity has become a political movement. Rising out of the protests in the early months of the Trump administration, an unprecedented number of women, people of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates are now running for Congress and governor, according to a New York Times analysis.
The percentage of candidates who are white men is the lowest it’s been in the last four elections, according to data available to The Times.
If she won, Stacey Abrams would be the first black woman elected governor of any state. Representative Marsha Blackburn would be Tennessee’s first female senator. And Jared Polis of Colorado would be the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected governor. Scores of others could make history if they win their races.
The efforts of these candidates and others like them point to a major shift in the kinds of Americans choosing to pursue public service through elected office. Their candidacies are likely to have long-lasting impacts on political representation in the United States, though they are unlikely to radically change the overall composition of the House, Senate and governorships.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/31/us/politics/midterm-election-candidates-diversity.html