New Congress: Minorities gain but still overwhelmingly white

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meet the new Congress — the first Latina senator, three House members moving across the Capitol to the Senate and a few former lawmakers who seized their old jobs back.

Just like college freshmen, the recently elected members of the House — at least 50 — descend on Washington on Monday for a week of orientation, a class photo on the East Front steps and a lottery to secure their new offices.

The next Congress will include a record number of minority women, but even with the gains, Congress will remain overwhelmingly white, male and middle-aged.

Duckworth, a two-term House member, is a veteran of the Iraq War, where as an Army pilot, she lost both legs when her helicopter was hit by a grenade.

New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan, a two-term governor, defeated freshman Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the nation's closest Senate race.

While the number of female lawmakers will remain static, the increased number of minority women is "a landmark for women's participation in Congress," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Maryland's 10-member congressional delegation reverted to all-male, while Pennsylvania voters rejected Democrat Katie McGinty's bid to become the first woman in the state elected to the Senate.

Democrat Val Demings, an African American and the first female police chief in Orlando, Florida, won a seat in the House.

Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming won a House seat formerly held by her father — former Vice President Dick Cheney — while Democrat Jimmy Panetta captured a California seat once held by his father, Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and defense secretary.