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She's The Youngest Woman Ever Elected To Congress

by Suzanne Samin

The United States just got its youngest state legislator, and now it has its youngest-ever woman in Congress, too: Republican Elise Stefanik is now the youngest woman elected to Congress, having beaten her challenger Aaron Wolf in New York's 21st District by a 22 percent margin. She is 30 years old.

Stefanik, who is being heralded as the new face of the GOP, graduated from Harvard at age 21, and then joined former President George W. Bush's administration on his Domestic Policy Council. She has also worked for Paul Ryan and Tim Pawlenty. When she isn't working on her political career, she's helping manage her family's plywood business.

The newly minted congresswoman's values fall in line with the more conservative side of her party. According to her website, her platform focuses on the economy – specifically job creation and aid to small businesses. She's also, unsurprisingly, against Obamacare, and seeks to repeal it and replace it with measures to make healthcare more affordable and accessible. But wait, there's more. She is also a proud, "card-carrying," NRA member, and is staunchly pro-gun. Stefanik seeks to repeal NY's SAFE Act, which was put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo after the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012.

Interestingly enough, however, Stefanik's platform doesn't address abortion or same-sex marriage. The House of Representatives doesn't have much say when it comes to those issues at present, but it's still unusual to see a high-level politician ignore those prominent issues. That being said, some of her platform already falls in direct opposition to many women in her age demographic.

Regardless, it's still pretty cool to see such a large influx of women in Congress, and the fact that so many are breaking records and boundaries for the rest of us is only the cherry on the happy-lady-feelings sundae. More women in Congress means the decisions that affect women will be made, in part, by women. And that counts for something. It counts for a lot.

Images: Screenshot, Elise For Congress