When Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib spoke with prospective voters across Michigan’s 13th District while running for office, the top concern she heard wasn’t a specific policy issue or party platform.

“It was very consistent, in different ways and different words, but it was, ‘Are you going to sell us out? Are you going to vote against us when you get there?’" Tlaib recalled. “I just can’t imagine doing that.

"I am excited to show people what they deserve, which is somebody that is unwavering and unapologetically me.”

The former state lawmaker, attorney and activist came out on top in a competitive Democratic primary in August and in November was formally elected to represent the 13th District, made up of portions of Detroit and surrounding suburbs, for a two-year term. Rep. John Conyers stepped down from the seat in 2017 amid sexual harassment allegations, and the seat was left vacant for nearly a year before Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones was elected in a November special election to serve the remainder of Conyers' term.

Tlaib is one of four new incoming members of Congress from Michigan. Fellow Democrats Haley Stevens, Elissa Slotkin and Andy Levin were also elected to office this fall, with Stevens and Slotkin flipping seats and bringing the delegation split to seven Democrats and seven Republicans.

Along with Minnesota Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar, Tlaib will be one of the first Muslim women to hold Congressional office once she’s sworn in early next year as part of the most diverse freshmen class of Congress in history. The eldest child of 14 born to Palestinian immigrants, Tlaib will carry her heritage with her when she’s sworn in, recently announcing on Instagram that she’d wear a traditional Palestinian thobe during the ceremony.

Tlaib said her election to Congress feels different from her previous state House runs, in large part due to the diversity and talent of the people she’ll be serving with: “I don’t feel alone. I also feel this sense of hope, just like everybody else around the country, just being around this new class.”

In Congress, Tlaib’s top priorities include getting three district service centers up and running for her constituents and introducing the Justice for All Civil Rights Act, a plan that would include disparate impact under the umbrella of civil rights protections, expand civil rights to the LGBT community and reform Title IX laws relating to sexual assault and harassment at universities.

She also wants to work on tackling the influence of corporate money in politics, noting that most of the people in her district don’t have the resources to compete with lobbyists or deep-pocketed donors when attempting to have their voices heard in government. Tlaib is hoping to serve on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, as appropriations was were where she spent her legislative career.

Above all, Tlaib said she wants to make sure she remains rooted in the needs of her community, and plans to draw on her activism and experience in the nonprofit sector to aid her Congressional activities. She said she’s inspired by Detroit’s longstanding history of supporting civil rights, labor rights and other causes and plans to continue that legacy by sticking up for her district, even if that means disagreeing with members of her own party.

“I want people to feel like they have access to Congress, that they have access to government,” Tlaib said. “I can bring my signs with me, I can bring my bullhorn with me...my residents don’t deserve anything less than somebody that will fight make enough noise to at least get us to the table to say, ‘We have a right to be heard.’”

Tlaib has already bonded with like-minded fellow lawmakers from around the country, forming an unofficial “squad” with fellow Reps.-elect Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Omar. She said she’s inspired by their courage and willingness to unabashedly admit that they’re trying to change the world and take on big and powerful political forces.

“People like us never think about running for office, and we’re starting to run, but we’re starting to win as well. And that is incredibly, incredibly inspiring,” she said.

Tlaib also had high praise for the other incoming members of Congress from Michigan, citing Slotkin’s mission focus, Stevens' passion for the manufacturing industry and Levin’s perspective as a fellow parent who has a firsthand perspective of many policies affecting Michigan residents.

This was my gift to my new member class.



"To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men." - from Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem Protest.



I am making sure we know our power in Congress to hold corrupt elected officials accountable. pic.twitter.com/U3HKPnEZ7J — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) November 28, 2018

Tlaib hasn’t been shy about her criticism of President Donald Trump or his administration - when he was still running for office in 2016, Tlaib was one of several women who protested a speech he gave in Detroit. Upon arriving in Washington for new member training, Tlaib gifted every one of her freshmen class members with a book outlining “the case for impeachment of Donald Trump.”

The 2018 election results show there’s a sense of urgency in the country, Tlaib said, adding that she feels he has already violated the Constitution with his immigration policies and business practices while holding office.

“I just put my my colleagues on notice that this is our duty and this is our responsibility to hold the president accountable,” she said. “It’s my duty to ask those questions and to demand information that I think is critically important to make sure that he’s not hurting us behind closed doors.”

Tlaib said she’ll draw on her experiences in the state legislature when it comes to working across the aisle in Congress, noting that she plans to “check the campaign at the Capitol steps” and try to find common ground with her Republican colleagues.

I understand they have to represent their district, and it’s very different from mine, but there’s so many commonalities," she said. “They’re connected with their people. That’s why they got elected. So I have to respect that, and I have to understand where that comes from.”