Election 2014 firsts: Republican women won big
Election 2014 firsts: Republican women won big
For the first time since 2006, Republicans on Tuesday took control of the U.S. Senate, with the GOP gaining at least seven seats to retake the majority. Republicans also expanded the party's majority in the House, where the GOP will have the most seats since the Truman administration. But there were plenty of other firsts on Election night. In a big-money race, Republican Joni Ernst defeated Democrat Bruce Braley on Tuesday to become Iowa's first woman in Congress β and the first female veteran in the history of the U.S. Senate. Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito defeated Democratic opponent Natalie Tennant to become West Virginia's first female in the U.S. Senate, and the first GOP senator elected by the Mountain State in 56 years.
I wasn't elected because of the color of my skin. I wasn't elected because of my gender. I was elected because of the solution I put at the table.
Utah's Mia Love, the first black Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress
Republican Elise Stefanik become the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, defeating Democrat Aaron Woolf in the race in New York's 21st open district. The 30-year-old is also the first GOP candidate to win the district, which had been held by Democratic Rep. Bill Owens since 2009. Speaking of women, New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won re-election, defeating former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. For Brown, it's the second time he's lost to a woman. Tim Scott won in South Carolina, becoming the first African-American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate and elected to a statewide office. Utah's Mia Love became the first black Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.