While many of us have very mixed feelings and emotions after the 2016 presidential election, there are some important things that you may have missed in all of the election frenzy. While we didn’t get our first female president, several women made history in other areas of our government. Several states voted on controversial issues such as marijuana recreational or medical use, gun background checks, and ranked choice voting. With all of these things that passed, we still made history in states around the country last Tuesday. Here’s what you may have missed:
- In Nevada, the first Latina Senator in the US was elected
- In Minneapolis, the first Somali-American Muslim in the US (and a woman) was elected as legislator.
- The first LGBT governor was elected in Oregon.
- Washington state elected the first Indian-American woman into the House of Representatives.
- In Florida, the first Vietnamese-American woman was elected to Congress.
- California elected the first Indian-American woman into the Senate: she is mixed-race of Jamaican and Indian descent, so this makes her also the second black woman to serve as senator.
In addition to these groundbreaking women, four more states legalized recreational marijuana: Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, and California. Four more states voted to legalize medical marijuana: Florida, Montana, North Dakota and Arkansas.
Maine became the first state in the nation to pass ranked choice voting. This means that voters will rank choices in order of preference. This could likely be a good thing for Maine’s government and the future of the country if other states pass the same thing. Many European countries and some cities around the US use this system. This could mean some groundbreaking changes in the future ahead.
Voters in California, Washington and Nevada passed gun background check laws for those looking to purchase guns.
It looks like some good came out of the election after all. Yay for women in government, decisions over controversial laws and the people around the country making their voices heard!
Sources:
http://time.com/4564353/gun-control-state-referendums-election/
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/historic-firsts-2016-election?utm_term=.ec27zWo0v#.ylZ4D3Jx6
Photo: http://www.ooyuz.com/images/2016/10/9/1478680239051.jpg