By Erin Spencer Sairam
January 14, 2025
The 119th Congress marked the first since 2016 with a decrease in women’s representation when it officially kicked off on January 3.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks speaks at a press conference alongside other Senate Democrats outside the US Capitol on Priorities for the 119th Congress in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP)AFP via Getty Images
The 119th Congress marked the first since 2016 with a decrease in women’s representation when it officially kicked off on January 3. It’s a slight decline: 150 women will serve, down from the 151 who were in office on Election Day. Of those lawmakers, 21 (18 House representatives and three senators) were sworn in for the first time.
While seniority largely rules the day in the halls of Congress, history has seen quite a few freshmen who’ve made an early mark. In 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former bartender from Queens, quickly became one of the most talked-about politicians in America, amassing a large social media following, starring in a Netflix documentary and even appearing on magazine covers. In 1987, 47-year-old Representative Nancy Pelosi had already made such an impression in her very first week of Congress her colleague Representative George Miller introduced her as “the future first woman speaker of the House.” Immediately after taking her oath in 2017, political pundits shortlisted freshman California Senator Kamala Harris as a party favorite for the White House.
As work in the new Congressional calendar gets underway, here are some of the newcomers who could, like Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi and Harris, become future political heavyweights:
Yassamin Ansari
Rep.-elect Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) joins other congressional freshmen of the 119th Congress for a group photograph on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on November 15, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In the House, Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic representative from Arizona’s 3rd district, had already solidified her rising star status when she was voted the House Democrats’ freshman class president. Ansari, who previously served on the Phoenix City Council, is Congress’ youngest new member at 32 years old. In a Congress that’s older than the last—the third oldest in history, in fact—with a tendency to elevate older members to higher ranks, Ansari’s leadership role lends a rare voice of authority to an underrepresented generation.
Sarah McBride
Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., is seen in the U.S. Capitol before the 119th Congress was sworn in on Friday, January 3, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Also bringing a new perspective and lived experience to the halls of Congress is Sarah McBride, who, as Delaware’s at-large representative, won a statewide contest against Republican opponent John Whalen. The Democrat is the first openly transgender member of Congress, and her leadership ensures that for the next two years, at least one member of the transgender community will be able to vote on the rapidly increasing number of anti-trans bills (87 at the federal level in 2024, up from 53 in 2023). Not all of McBride’s Congressional colleagues have welcomed that representation: Before she even arrived in Congress, McBride found herself the target of South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace, who successfully introduced legislation to bar McBride from using women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol.
Julie Johnson
Rep.-elect Julie Johnsonn, D-Texas, poses for a photo on the House steps after freshman members of Congress posed for their class photo on the House steps of the Capitol on Friday, November 15, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Representative Julie Johnson, who represents Texas’s 32nd congressional district, is Congress’ first LGBTQ+ member from the South. The former trial lawyer previously served in the Texas Legislature where she made a name for herself as a hard-working member of the minority party, managing to get at least 40 bills she co-sponsored or authored signed into law. Deemed “Freshman of the Year” by Texas Monthly, Johnson has a proven track record of hitting the ground running and working across the aisle to advance legislation.
Lateefah Simon
Rep.-elect Lateefah Simon, D-Calif, arrives for new member orientation in the Capitol on Thursday, November 14, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
With Vice President Kamala Harris as a longtime mentor, Lateefah Simon is stepping into her role as representative for California’s 12th congressional district with both high aspirations and expectations from her constituents and peers. Simon won the race for Barbara Lee’s open East Bay seat, picking up a literal baton from Lee to lead one of the bluest House districts in the country, known for pushing progressive Democratic legislation. Born legally blind at birth, Simon is a longtime public transportation rider and previously served on the Bay Area Rapid Transit board of directors. She voiced an early interest in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee following election day.
Julie Fedorchak
Rep.-elect Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) poses for a photograph after joining other congressional freshmen of the 119th Congress for a group photograph on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on November 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Someone who’s already managed to secure a sought-after committee spot is Julie Fedorchak, Republican representative for North Dakota’s at-large congressional district. Fedorchak was chosen to serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a move that’s a bit of a coup: no freshman has been picked for the committee since 2011. The oldest standing legislative committee in the House, the ECC has a uniquely broad purview, making it one of the most powerful committees in Congress. Fedorchak made it onto the highly sought-after committee thanks to her 12 years of experience serving as a utility regulator on the Public Service Commission.
Angela Alsobrooks
Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in with Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) (L) as her daughter Alex (2bd L) looks on at the U.S. Capitol on January 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Of the three new women being sworn into the U.S. Senate, Angela Alsobrooks is the only freshman who’s entirely new to Congress; her colleagues Lisa Blunt Rochester and Elissa Slotkin previously served in the House. Before coming to Congress, Alsobrooks served as county executive of Prince George’s County in Maryland. Her swearing-in, led by her friend and mentor, Vice President Kamala Harris, was steeped in significance: In addition to being Maryland’s first Black Senator, she and Senator Rochester made history as the first Black women to serve simultaneously in the Senate. Following her official oath, she joined a ceremonial swearing-in with the Congressional Black Caucus, which, at 62 members, is the largest it’s ever been.