2016 record year for electing minority women

Nadia Brown Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — More women – particularly minority women – will likely be on the ballot in 2018 after significant gains in the 2016 election, says Nadia Brown, a Purdue University associate professor of political science.

Brown, whose interests include African American studies and women and politics, says the reaction to the 2016 election is pronounced in minority communities.

“We saw more minority women elected to Congress than even white women. This is the first time that’s ever happened,” she said. “Women of color are becoming the new faces of minority communities. They’re the ones voting more often and now seeking election at lower levels. That should translate to people moving up through the ranks and into national prominence.”

She also says 2017 has an eerie familiarity.

“I’m thinking about 1992 as the ‘year of the woman,’” she says. “Some of the lead-up to 2017 looked really familiar from 1992. There was all this backlash (in 1992) around Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill when Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court.”

That hearing exploded when former employee Hill made accusations of unwanted sexual advances.

“Today there are some women outraged (after the 2016 campaign),” Brown says. “Today it’s just in different context and different mediums. Until groups are fully equal participants in the American political system, marginalized groups will always make demands.”

Brown referred to the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign.

“For me, it is reminiscent of 1992, the year of the woman, that ushered in a record number of elected women,” she says. “I think we’ll also see the same result in 2018 and perhaps 2020.” 

Writer: Howard Hewitt, 765-494-9451, hhewitt@purdue.edu

Source: Nadia Brown, 765-494-0460, brown957@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Brown is available for interviews.