No matter which side of the ticket you are planning on voting for, I think we can all agree: we will be happy when this dumpster fire of an election season is over. I’m tired of the debates, the commercials, the Facebook posts from my Aunt Marilyn. With all of the attention on the presidential race, it’s easy to forget that there are also elections for Congress on November 8th. But with 36 seats in the Senate and all 435 seats in the House up for election, those races are important too.
And here’s a not-so-surprising fact: many of the women who are participating in those races for Congress are sorority women. I mean, politics are second nature to anyone who ever had to navigate a large group of sisters, so it stands to reason that many of the women in politics would have honed those skills as sorority members. So let’s introduce you to some of them:
There are currently three sorority women running for the Senate:
Lisa Murkowski
Party: Republican (Incumbent)
Sorority Affiliation: Pi Beta Pi
Quick Facts: Murkowski was originally appointed to the U.S. Senate by her father, Frank Murkowski, who resigned his seat in December 2002 to become the Governor of Alaska; she won her own full term in 2004. She ran again in 2010 and after using the nomination, she won by write-in, only the second U.S. senator ever to be elected by write in.
Kamala Harris
State: California
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: Harris was the first female, the first African-American, and the first Asian-American attorney general in California.
Kelly Ayotte
State: New Hampshire (Incumbent)
Party: Republican
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Gamma
Quick Facts: She became New Hampshire’s first female attorney general, serving from 2004 to 2009.
And there are seventeen badass sorority women running for the House of Representatives:
Martha Roby
State: Alabama (Incumbent)
Party: Republican
Sorority Affiliation: Kappa Kappa Gamma
Quick Facts: Roby and fellow Rep. Terri Sewell were the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in regular elections.
Terri Sewell
State: Alabama (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: Upon graduating from college, Sewell was featured on NBC’s Today Show as one of the “Top Collegian Women” and was chosen as one of the “Top Ten College Women in America” by Glamour Magazine.
Karen Bass
State: California (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Sigma Theta
Quick Facts: Prior to serving in Congress, Bass was the Speaker of the California Assembly.
Susan Davis
California – State: California (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Phi Epsilon
Quick Facts: While in the California State Assembly, Davis authored a state law giving women direct access to an OB/GYN without requiring a referral from their primary care physicians.
Kathy Castor
State: Florida (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Delta Delta
Quick Facts: Castor was named as the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Woman of the Year in government in 2005. She has served in the House of Representatives since 2007.
Frederica Wilson
State: Florida (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: Wilson is an anti-hazing advocate; she was part of a group of fraternity and sorority leaders who launched an anti-hazing campaign after the 2011 death of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion Jr.
Robin Kelly
State: Illinois (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Sigma Gamma Rho
Quick Facts: Kelly was the first African American woman to serve as chief of staff to an elected constitutional statewide officeholder, when she served as Chief of Staff for the Illinois treasurer from 2007 to 2011.
Jan Schakowsky
State: Illinois (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Phi Epsilon
Quick Facts: As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Schakowsky has been known for her support of women’s issues during her time in Congress, which began in 1999.
Susan Brooks
State: Indiana (Incumbent)
Party: Republican
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Omicron Pi
Quick Facts: Brooks, a lawyer, earned the prestigious Who’s Who in law twice, in 2002 and 2011. She has served in the House of Representatives since 2013.
Bonnie Watson Coleman
State: New Jersey (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: Watson Coleman was the first African-American woman to chair the New Jersey State Democratic party and is the first black woman in Congress from New Jersey.
Michelle Lujan Grisham
State: New Mexico
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Delta Delta
Quick Facts: Graham comes from a political family. Her uncle served in House; her grandfather was Chief Justice of the New Mexico Surprise court, and her cousin is also currently in the House of Representatives.
Yvette Clarke
State: New York (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Sigma Theta
Quick Facts: Before entering Congress in 2007, Clarke was a member of the New York City Council, representing the 40th council district in Brooklyn, succeeding her mother in the role.
Alma Adams
State: North Carolina (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: With a Ph.D.in Art Education and Multicultural education, Adams advocates for arts and culture in schools.
Joyce Beatty
State: Ohio
Party: Democrat (Incumbent)
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Sigma Theta
Quick Facts: During her tenure in the Ohio State Legislature, Beatty was the first female Democratic House Leader in Ohio history.
Marcia Fudge
State: Ohio (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Delta Sigma Theta
Quick Facts: Fudge was the first African American and the first female mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio before being elected to Congress in 2008; she was also the chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Marsha Blackburn
State: Tennessee (Incumbent)
Party: Republican
Sorority Affiliation: Chi Omega
Quick Facts: Blackburn was identified as one of the three best freshmen members during her first term in Congress by the Washingtonian. She has served in the House of Representatives since 2003.
Sheila Jackson Lee
State: Texas (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: After being elected to the House in 1995, Jackson Lee was not challenged in a Democratic primary until 2010.
Eddie Bernice Johnson
State: Texas (Incumbent)
Party: Democrat
Sorority Affiliation: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Quick Facts: Johnson is the first registered nurse to be elected to the U.S. Congress.
Who runs the world? (Sorority) Girls..
All photos via Wikipedia
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
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