2018 is “The Year of the Women!” 265 women won House and Senate primaries this past month, a record number. This means that almost half of the women who ran in a primary won their election. We decided it was time for us to be heard and take back control.This. Is. Huge. This is HUGE!
In Colorado, 10 women ran, and 6 of them won. 34 women ran in Florida, and 20 of them won. That’s over half for both states! If women keep winning, we could make up a quarter of Congress. This would be the highest number of women in Congress in over a century! Women of color and LGBT women were heard this year more than ever before. Over 400 LGBT women were registered as running in a primary, with about half of them running for their local or state primaries. This is major, and we should all be very excited about this!
The women running and winning are both Democrats and Republicans. Of the 265 women advancing to November, 197 are Democrats and 59 are Republicans. Many of these women are running for the first time ever, and some (such as Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) went up against incumbents, or will be going up against incumbents.
Many of the women, such as Jana Sanchez of Texas, decided to run because of Trump. Most are worried about what he’s done, and what he will do. Many are running on a local level, where laws are easier to pass and discrimination is back on the table. In 2017, over 120 anti-LGBT bills (such as bathroom, anti-adoption, marriage, etc.) were introduced in 30 states. As well, 19 states adopted 63 new regulations on abortion. These women are going to end this.
I am so excited for these women to kick ass and win in November, and see how much they accomplish in office!