More women will serve in Congress than ever before, with a record-breaking 121 women going on to serve this January. This surpasses the previous record of 107 women members, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, and this number may increase with more results coming in from around the country.
The women elected this year were overwhelmingly Democratic, with 85 of the 98 women elected to the House and 11 of the 14 elected to the Senate running as Democrats. According to the latest count, the amount of female Republicans in Congress will decline after this election session.
Not only are the numbers making history, but other factors are breaking records as well. 38 women of color will serve in the House, as well as 26 non-incumbent women.
Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, the elected representatives of New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District and Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, are the first Native American women elected to Congress.
29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to represent New York’s 14th Congressional District, and is the youngest person in history elected to Congress.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the elected representatives of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District and Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Omar also makes history being the first Somali-American woman to be elected.
Outside of Congress, nine women were elected as governors, and history may still be made in Georgia’s gubernatorial race. Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, will become the first African American governor in the country if elected.
Following Donald Trump’s presidential election, the mobilization of women skyrocketed. That energy was channeled into this election by hundreds of women becoming candidates, and pledging to continue the fight for women’s rights through a position in office. We’ve seen first hand what women are truly capable of.