2014 shows massive shift in Congressional demographics

Democrat Alma Adams, the new representative from North Carolina, will become the 100th female member of Congress, and will usher in a historic new era for female politicians in American politics.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Congress has never had more than 100 women, but Adams new record will be short-lived. The next Congress will have at least 101 female members, and might just have more.

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Twenty of these women will be Senators, the same as the current number of women in the Senate now, but if Senator Mary Landrieu, the incumbent Democrat from Louisiana, can hold her seat, that number may be even higher.

The House is where the most women will be coming in.

The growing number of female members of Congress reflects a larger, and more broad, demographic shift on Capitol Hill.

The 11 newly elected senators are about 16 years younger than those they are replacing and four of these new senators are under 50.

Senator-elect Tom Cotton, a 37-year-old Republican from Arkansas, is the youngest incoming senator. Republican David Perdue of Georgia, at 64, is the oldest. On average, the age of new senators is 50, compared with 66 for the lawmakers that are heading out.

A 30-year-old Republican from New York, Elise Stefanik, is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Mia Love, a 38-year-old black Republican from Utah is also the first black female Republican to take a seat in Congress.

Also, Senator-elect Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, is the first black senator to come from the South since the 1860s. In general, there will be 46 black members of Congress-up from 43.

Latinos are also seeing a major increase in representation. Twenty-nine will now serve in the House.

Still, Capitol Hill remains largely white and male, but a growing change in demographics across the country, and an increased focus on getting minorities into politics in the Republican and Democratic parties may just change this.

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