US Midterm Elections: Women, minorities surge in Democratic Party

World
Europe

02:59

A struggle for the future of America - and the Democratic Party. Politicans are preparing for mid-term elections in November. While some Democrats are only focused on reducing President Trump's power, others are also looking to change the face of their own party. CGTN's Jim Spellman explains.

Women and minorities are shaking up U.S. politics -- winning a string of high-profile elections as they seek to redefine the Democratic Party.

In the Massachusetts primary, Ayanna Pressley beat a 10-term incumbent Congressman. She is poised to become the first African American woman to represent the state in Congress.

AYANNA PRESSLEYUS CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE "We have arrived. Change is coming. And the future belongs to all of us!"

Women currently make up about 20% of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and are governors in just six of the 50 states, but a record number of women ran for office in 2018, and so far, they are winning primaries at historic rates.

Earlier this election cycle, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat a white male congressional incumbent in New York. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams beat another female candidate in the primary and is now running to be the first woman African-American governor.

In Minnesota, Somali-American Ilhan Omar won her House primary, and in Michigan, the child of Palestinian immigrants won her race. They are set to become the first female Muslim members of Congress.

RASHIDA TLAIBUS CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE "What a powerful message to send to the world, not even just in our country, that even though we have the rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration --we have people pushing and celebrating the Muslim ban-- that a Muslim has not been banned from Congress."

Many minorities and women in the Democratic Party say President Trump's controversial comments and policies have inspired them to run. Trump's advisers say making the election about President Trump will help Republicans.

STEVE BANNONFORMER ADVISOR TO US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP "If you make this a national referendum and nationalize this election on the success of President Trump's program, it's a clear winner. And I think the Democrats get crushed."

But many Democrats say a diverse set of candidates will help them win in November's general elections. In August Andrew Gillum won the Democratic primary in Florida and hopes to become the first African-American governor of the state.

ANDREW GILLUMFLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE "The way we're going to be successful this November is again by giving voters a reason to turn out and vote for something and not just against. I think we're also going to be wildly successful at getting more black voters, brown voters, young voters, poor voters, working class white voters to get out and to vote for us."

JIM SPELLMANWASHINGTON "It's far from clear whether the increased prominence of women and minorities on Democratic tickets will translate into wins in November, but polls suggest Democrats are poised to increase their number of seats and may win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Jim Spellman, CGTN, Washington."