Displaying items by tag: Asian Americans in Congress

In the wake of the 2018 mid-term elections, we have compiled a list and a breakdown of Asian-American elected officials in both houses of the United States Congress (The Senate and The House of Representatives). For the sake of comparison, we have also included data on Asian-American Congressional members from the 2016 election.

At the time of this writing in 2018, there are a total of twelve Asian Americans (single-race and multi-ethnic) in both houses of Congress, including eleven representatives and one senator. This is a slight decrease from the previous national election. In 2016, there were a total of fifteen Asian Americans in the House and the Senate; twelve representatives and three senators.

In 2018, Indian Americans and Japanese Americans have the highest total representation in Congress of all Asian-American ethnic groups, with three apiece. The only current Asian-American U.S. Senator is of Japanese descent (Mazie Hirono, a Democrat representing Hawaii).

Notably, Representative Andy Kim (Democrat, New Jersey), is the first Korean American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since Jay Changjoon Kim (Republican, California) held office from 1992 to 1999.

While the slight downturn in Asian-American representation in Congress between 2016 and 2018 seems discouraging, looking at the big picture, there are some positive signs regarding overall diversity in the federal legislative branch of the U.S. government. A record number of women were elected to the House, and the first Muslim-American and Native-American U.S. Representatives were also elected.

In the wake of the 2018 mid-term elections, we have compiled a list and a breakdown of Asian-American elected officials in both houses of the United States Congress (The Senate and The House of Representatives). For the sake of comparison, we have also included data on Asian-American Congressional members from the 2016 election.

At the time of this writing in 2018, there are a total of twelve Asian Americans (single-race and multi-ethnic) in both houses of Congress, including eleven representatives and one senator. This is a slight decrease from the previous national election. In 2016, there were a total of fifteen Asian Americans in the House and the Senate; twelve representatives and three senators.

In 2018, Indian Americans and Japanese Americans have the highest total representation in Congress of all Asian-American ethnic groups, with three apiece. The only current Asian-American U.S. Senator is of Japanese descent (Mazie Hirono, a Democrat representing Hawaii).

Notably, Representative Andy Kim (Democrat, New Jersey), is the first Korean American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since Jay Changjoon Kim (Republican, California) held office from 1992 to 1999.

While the slight downturn in Asian-American representation in Congress between 2016 and 2018 seems discouraging, looking at the big picture, there are some positive signs regarding overall diversity in the federal legislative branch of the U.S. government. A record number of women were elected to the House, and the first Muslim-American and Native-American U.S. Representatives were also elected.