Rep. Elise Stefanik, a 30-year old upstate New Yorker, is the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress. She’s so youthful looking that security keeps stopping her and asking for ID. After Stefanik’s vote for John Boehner for Speaker of the House, she’ll probably become more familiar fast. Stefanik already apparently knows the first rule of business–align yourself with the powerful. (And with the right real estate: Stefanik allegedly owns no property in New York. She owns a $1.3 million townhouse in Washington, DC, but she declared residency in New York at her parents vacation home just before running for office. She’s going to fit in perfectly!)
It might seem that a 30-year-old woman in Congress could only be possible in the 21st century, but a quick history lesson tells us that another New Yorker, Elizabeth Holtzman, entered Congress at the tender age of 31–all the way back in 1973. (Holtzman was there when Nixon resigned–she served until 1981.) What is very 21st century is that the young woman entering in 2015, Elise Stefanik, is a Republican–part of the changing look, if not preoccupations, of the GOP. Stefanik will no doubt meet her fellow Republican Mia Love on the floor. Love became the first black Republican woman ever elected to Congress last fall. Love is just 38.
