The Power of Representation: What it Means To Them, From Historic Alums

At Sister District, we firmly believe that we need to elect state legislators who reflect the beautiful diversity of this country and the communities that they represent. We are proud to have supported historic candidates across the country over the past several years. These folks are now able to bring their experiences and perspectives into their state governments as they work with legislative colleagues to govern their states.  In the summer of 2020, I caught up with a few of our historic candidates, now legislators, to talk about what representation means to them, what thoughts they might share with others who are looking for ways to build that reflective democracy, and why diverse representation is such a powerful force for good in our state chambers. The statements below have been edited from longer discussions.

VA State Senator Ghazala Hashmi: The first Muslim-American elected to the state senate in Virginia.

Sen. Hashmi: We often hear that term, “Representation matters,” and really what does that mean? It means that I, or someone else who typically would fall into a minority category, offer a different lens when we are sitting at the table and talking about policy, talking about issues and even the legislation that we bring forward.

We offer that different perspective that otherwise is unseen and is going to be unheard. When I’m sitting on the Senate floor and I look in the audience gallery and I see this broad diversity of immigrant faces who are waiting so expectantly for us to pass that driver’s-license bill, I’m looking at them as a partner, because I, too, am an immigrant, and I understand that kind of tenuous position to be in as a new person in a community and what that feels like. For someone in our governing body to have that visceral connection with so many different and diverse individuals, I think that’s important.

We need to have people who really understand what it means to be part of these different communities. So whether it’s being part of our LGBTQ community, or our women’s voices, immigrant voices, we just need to have as broad a spectrum as possible making the decisions that are going to be impacting all of these different families.

VA Delegate Kathy Tran: The first Vietnamese-American, and one of the first Asian-American women, elected to state government in Virginia.

Del. Tran: I think representation in our communities so incredibly important. When you work in crafting legislation, it’s just like these legal terms on this piece of paper.  But the stories that you’re able to tell about why this piece of policy and this change in the law matters — it’s that personal and the professional perspectives that you can bring that is really important. And I think representation helps to create the sense of urgency, the sense of why.  So I bring my experience as a former refugee, my experience as a woman of color, as a mom of four, soon-to-be-five munchkaroos, as a working mom, and then my professional experience as well.

Sometimes, you get a little bit relegated, kind of put in a box [as a legislator of color].  Because, I can speak to more things than just immigration issues, based on my personal experience. But I think sometimes it’s really interesting to see where these issues intersect.  For instance, I hadn’t spoken up on the floor about other delegates’ bills until this year and it was on the minimum wage bill. I got up to speak — I think it was almost ten o’clock at night and folks were hankering for us to soon wrap up and be done.  But I decided to get up and share my experience — my parents’ experience, working low wage and minimum wage jobs in the early ‘80s, as new refugees with a growing family, living in a one-bedroom apartment, taking a bus for hours to work. And it was a different perspective than other delegates had shared. And they had shared really important ones too, from their experience and what they saw from their constituents in other parts of Virginia.

And I think that is what representation means: where you’re able to give life to these policies that we’re making about why change is important and why this particular change is important. We’re able to speak from both a personal experience but also from a community experience.  And couple that with research and data as needed too, and the whole thing is really, really powerful. It’s making sure that when we talk about laws, we’re not just talking about black and white words on paper — we’re talking about how we have the opportunity to make change and to affect lives.

WA Senator Claire Wilson: The first open lesbian elected to the Washington state senate.

Sen. Wilson: I identify as lesbian and of course it’s part of who I am. But I now also know it is incredibly important to others, as I’ve learned from the young people and even from the older people that I’ve met since I’ve been elected. I had no idea how much it means to people to have someone who knows who they are, and how they are. I have a huge pride flag hanging in my office in the Senate, and that’s so critically important — when someone walks in a door, they can take a breath and know that I can have any conversation here.

And I think that is so important, including for young people. When I look at self-harm, when I look at suicide rates, when I look at the struggles that our young people have in trying to figure out who they are. It’s important for them to know that it’s okay to wonder, and be who they are, and that there are people in this world that understand. And that support may come from within their family, but it may not be there, and that’s okay too. That support may come from their elected official. But if it doesn’t, I’m there for that too. Because I think the biggest thing for me is, people all across the state need to know that someone sees them and knows what they’re dealing with. And I say to folks, “I don’t care if you live in my community or not. If I represent something about you that you don’t have anywhere else, then that’s what I’m here to do.” So, I’m not only beholden to the 30th Legislative District. I’m beholden to anyone who looks for someone to support them as their whole self and understands the struggles that come along with trying to figure that all out.

PA Senator Katie Muth: The youngest member of the Pennsylvania senate.

Sen. Muth: We have a lot of battles still to fight with representation in the legislature, including gender diversity and racial equity within the legislature. There are only 13 women in a senate of 50, which is pathetic. I’m glad we’re all there, but there’s some battles ahead. And we still don’t have a woman of color in the Senate. But, being the youngest legislator, I’m able to bring certain issues to the table. For instance, many of my colleagues honestly didn’t know about student loan debt. They’re older. The way that the economy was back when they were my age is gone. They’re like, you have student loan debt? And I’m like, yeah, six figures. With 6 percent interest. And just to have those conversations is important. Because it’s not just me. Those are people all over Pennsylvania.

MI Senator Mallory McMorrow: The youngest member of the Michigan senate.

Sen. McMorrow: As the youngest member of the senate, I am able to speak to one of our big issues, which I’m working on, which is how do we attract and retain talent in Michigan?  How do we keep young people here?  Michigan has the second steepest drop in birth rate in the country just behind Illinois.  We haven’t seen a rise in our population.  We are at risk of losing a Congressional seat after the census data comes out.  That’s huge.  We have an older population who’s largely retiring. And I’m able to bring to that conversation the visualization of what that means.  We need more people who stay here after they attend our many excellent colleges and universities.  We can’t be sending them to California and New York and Seattle.  We need them to stay here.

I also think it’s getting us to think differently about economic development and what that means.  And, also, pushing on social issues in a way that is also about economic development.  If we are trying to keep people here, Michigan is 45th out of 50th in the country for hate crimes, and our management of hate crimes.  And many of the people who suffer from that are in the LGBTQ community, and in our Black community.  We are a very diverse state.  We have a large immigrant population.  And we can grow that.  It’s one of our strengths.  But we have to govern responsibly and protect people to keep them here. I think being able to bring these issues to the table is so important.  So we need younger people in office.  And it drives younger people to the polls, too.  If we want younger people to vote, we’ve got to get younger people to run.