US Mid-term elections: Democrats reclaim control of House, Republicans retain Senate

In the recently-held mid-term elections in the United States of America on Tuesday, Democrats claimed control of the House, paving the way for women candidates. However, Republicans have retained the Senate.

Among the many chosen, two Muslim candidates from Minnesota and Michigan won the voters trust and entered into US Congress.

Voters in Minnesota chose Ilhan Omar — a former refugee who fled Somalia’s civil war — who will succeed U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison. The later became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2016 and stepped down as the parliamentarian is stepping down to run for state attorney general.

It is to be known that Omar spent four years of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya and became the first Somali-American to win a seat in a state legislature. She will also be the first Congress member to wear a Muslim hijab, or head scarf. Last month, she had said, “I did not expect to come to the United States and go to school with kids who were worried about food as much as I was worried about it in a refugee camp.”

Another Muslim Democrat candidate to have selected from Michigan is a Detroit-born Palestinian-American — Rashida Tlaib. She had campaigned for issues related to universal healthcare, free college tuition and robust public housing. Tlaib became the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature in 2008. She belongs to a family Palestinian immigrant and her father used to work at a Ford Motor Co plant.

With the majority, Democrats will now have the ability to investigate Trump’s tax returns and allegations involving his 2016 campaign’s links to Russia. Other major decisions of President Donald Trump that might get affected include his promises to fund a border wall with Mexico, major tax-cut package or his hardline policies on trade.

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