In January 2019, the largest number of women ever elected to Congress was sworn in—87 in the house and 23 in the Senate - this was a dress rehearsal for the 2020 primary and general election. Democratic women won largely on painting the GOP as incompetent especially around health care. This history-making Class of ’19 included many remarkable firsts: the youngest woman ever to serve; the first two Muslim women; the first two native American women, one openly gay; a black woman from a nearly all-white Chicago suburb; and a Hispanic woman from a heavily Republican border region. In many instances, these were the first women and/or persons of color and/or youngest persons to serve from their state or district.
Veteran New York Times Capitol Hill reporter Jennifer Steinhauer has been following this historic transition from day one and in THE FIRSTS: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress (Algonquin: March 10, 2020), she uses her rare vantage point to take a behind-the-scenes look at these newcomer’s individual and collective attempts to usher in real change in Washington