Election night has come to a close and things are settling in. Republicans have taken firm control of the Senate. Meanwhile, Democrats have grabbed firm control of the House of Representatives. Across the country, candidates made history. Jared Polis became the first openly gay man to be elected governor. Jahana Hayes became the first black woman from Connecticut to be elected to congress. Beyond individual candidates and campaigns, a major statement was made nationwide. In January 2019, a record number of women will be heading to Congress.
With votes still being counted in several states, more than 100 women are projected to be heading to Congress. Prior to this year, no more than eighty-four women had ever been in Congress at one time. This change in Congress is lead by upstart candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the aforementioned, Jahana Hayes.
Attempting to characterize this historic moment, Kelly Dittmar of Rutgers University said, “Women made history in a number of ways and were a significant force in flipping many districts from red to blue.” Going in to the 2020 Presidential election, we could very well see more history be made as Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand stand as viable candidates for the Democratic Party.
