A record number of women are serving in the 117th Congress
Women make up just over a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress – the highest percentage in U.S. history.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Women make up just over a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress – the highest percentage in U.S. history.
Even as younger generations gain representation in Congress, older generations still make up the majority of senators and representatives.
Many of the millions of Americans voting in Tuesday’s midterm elections will have to do so while working around the demands of their jobs – hitting their polling places before work, taking an extra-long lunch break or going afterward and hoping to make it before the polls close. As they stand in line, many of them may wonder why it is that the United States votes on a Tuesday, of all days.
Turnout in this year’s primaries for Congress and most state governorships surged compared with the last midterms in 2014, particularly among Democrats. Nearly a fifth (19.6%) of registered voters – about 37 million – cast ballots in primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives – a 56% increase over the 23.7 million who voted in 2014’s House primaries. Turnout that year was 13.7% of registered voters.
Mitch McConnell’s decision to shorten the chamber’s August recess isn’t unprecedented. But in an election year – when a third of senators are on the campaign trail – it’s unusual.
At least 65 of the current voting members of Congress are immigrants or the children of immigrants. These members represent nearly half of U.S. states.
More members of the U.S. House of Representatives are choosing not to seek re-election than at any time in the past quarter-century.
Senate seats have rarely flipped to the other party in recent special elections, and turnout usually lags compared with regular elections for the same seat.
The vast majority of proposed amendments die quiet, little-mourned deaths in committees and subcommittees.
Special elections to the U.S. House of Representatives tend to be low-turnout events, historically speaking, and seldom result in seats switching from one party to another.
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