Brenda Choresi Carter, Reflective Democracy Campaign Director, was recently featured in the Washington Post. While there is a lot to celebrate in the new Congress with regard to representation, the structural issues keeping women and people of color out of the halls of power are real.

“The system still favors the usual suspects,” Carter said. The “system” to which Carter is referring includes the major political parties, groups that finance candidates and organizations that mobilize voters, such as labor unions. All often back incumbents or candidates who have been anointed by the party.

“The playing field is by no means level, and in spite of the fact that there were really significant increases in the percentage of women, and particularly women of color, who were on the general election ballot this year, it’s still a very small minority of all candidates,” Carter said.

“While this Congress represents a step forward towards a more reflective democracy, including a number of inspiring ‘firsts’ — the first Native American women, the first Muslim American women, the first openly bisexual Senator — I look forward to when reflective political leadership is as unremarkable as the white male domination of our current system.

Click here to learn more about the Reflective Democracy Campaign.