 |    | Certain groups are under represented in Congress. About 15% of the 109th Congress is female, for example, despite women making up about 50% of the population of the USA. African Americans account for less than 8% of the 109th Congress, but make up 12% of the population as a whole. Despite this, in recent years, representation of ethnic minorities and women has improved. This has happened to a greater degree in the House than in the Senate.
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 | Senator Barack Obama was elected in 2004 and is the only African American Senator in the 109th Congress. He is the Illinois junior Senator and has been described as a rising star in the Democratic party.
All 42 African American members of Congress are Democrats and 14 of them are women.
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| Ken L. Salazar, a Democratic Senator for Colorado and Melquiades R. Martinez, a Republican Senator from Florida are the two Hispanic Senators serving in the 109th Congress. In the House of Representatives, 20 of the Hispanic members are Democrats and six are Republican. | | |
 | Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka are two Asian - American Senators serving in the 109th Congress. Both represent Hawaii and are Democrats. Five of the Asian American Representatives are also Democrats, and one is Republican.
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 | Only three Native Americans have ever sat in the Senate. The most recent was Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Republican from Colorado . He served from 1993-2005. The only Native American in the 109th Congress is Tom Cole, a Republican Representative for Oklahoma. | | |
| House of Representatives (435 Representatives plus 5 Delegates)
| 107th
| 108th
| 109th
| | Hispanic | 21 | 25 | 26 | | African Americans | 39 | 39
| 42
| | Asian and Pacific Islander | 6 | 5 | 6
| Native American
| 2 | 2
| 1
| | Women | 62 | 63 | 68 | | Source: Congressional Research Service Senate (100 Senators) |
| 107th
| 108th
| 109th
| | Hispanic | 0
| 0 | 2
| | African American | 0
| 0
| 1
| | Asian and Pacific Islander | 2
| 2 | 2
| | Native American | 1 | 1 | 0
| | Women | 13 | 14 | 14
| | Source: Congressional Research Service |
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 | There have been attempts to improve minority representation in Congress. One uses a tactic known as “gerrymandering” to try and achieve this. Gerrymandering can be used to favour social groups on the basis of race, ethnicity or social class.
Every US state is divided into electoral districts. Each district elects a number of members to the House of Representatives, according to its population size. When a census reveals changes in population figures, districts may be redrawn.
In 1986, a Supreme Court interpretation of the Voting Rights Act said that minorities should be given the maximum opportunity to elect someone from their own ethnic group. It was decided, therefore that when districts were being redrawn, to accommodate population changes, a new district might be created which had an ethnic minority concentration.
One effect of redrawing a boundary in this way, however, is that there will be fewer people belonging to that minority group in the surrounding districts. So, although an ethnic minority candidate is more likely to be elected to the “gerrymandered” district, it is less likely that candidates from that ethnic background will be elected in the surrounding districts.
There is a distinct possibility an ethnic minority candidate will represent the interests of his/her group effectively and influence votes in Congress as a result, if only to keep their seats at the next election. However, if gerrymandering means the group is less well represented in surrounding districts, their interests will be less well served when it comes to Congressional votes.
Gerrymandering is controversial, and court cases have, on occasion, ruled against redrawing district boundaries.
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