The midterm elections are behind us and a new class of congressmen and women will start governing on Jan. 3, 2019. We looked at the newest additions to the House and Senate — 100 non-incumbent winners* — and found their average age is 49. That makes this incoming class the youngest in the past three cycles. It is also the most diverse cohort to date. *We did not include nonvoting delegates from American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and the Virgin Islands. We also did not include Congress-elects that won special elections.

64 of the new members are Democrats

60 in the House | 4 in the Senate

36 of the new members are Republicans

30 in the House | 6 in the Senate

40 of the new members are women

36 in the House | 4 in the Senate

60 of the new members are men

55 in the House | 5 in the Senate

At least 25 of the new members elected to the House this cycle are Hispanic, Native American and people of color. All of the newly elected senators are white.

History-makers:

Marsha Blackburn is the first woman elected senator from Tennessee.

Sharice Davids (KS-03) and Debra Haaland (NM-01) are the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Davids is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas.



Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) are the first two Latinas elected to Congress from Texas.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) is the youngest woman elected to Congress. She is 29.

Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) are the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress. Omar will also be the first member of Congress to wear a headscarf and first woman of color elected to Congress from Minnesota.



Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) is the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.

Jahana Hayes (CT-05) is the first black Democratic woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.

Kyrsten Sinema is the first woman elected senator from Arizona, and first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate.



It is a highly educated group. More than 70 percent of the freshman class went to graduate school. A third of them have law degrees and 15 have MBAs. Seven freshmen earned at least two graduate degrees. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has four.

At least 19 members of the incoming class have served in the military. Six served in the Army, 11 in the Navy, and two in the Air Force.

The newest members of the 116th Congress have a diverse résumé. There are at least four former professional athletes: two NFL football players, one professional hockey player, and one mixed martial arts fighter.

There are at least five medical professionals: three doctors, one dentist, and one nurse.

Five worked in education or were teachers.