Women won more seats than ever before in the U.S. House after a record number of female candidates were on ballots across the country, fueled by Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump.
With some races yet to be called, 95 women had been elected to the House as of early Wednesday morning. That surpasses the record of 84 women set by the current Congress. Women could at best gain one seat in the Senate, potentially beating the record 23 women now in the chamber.
Before Tuesday’s elections, women made up a record 20 percent of Congress -- 23 percent of the Senate and 19 percent of the House.
More women ran in congressional primaries this year than ever before, mostly as Democrats. Many were by spurred by Trump’s treatment of women and the #MeToo movement along with wider fallout from the 2016 election, in which the first female major party presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, faced attacks based on her gender.
Most Americans say women running in record numbers for Congress is a good thing, but there’s less consensus about whether they think things will change with more women in office, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
“Democratic women in particular and independent women, progressive women, upscale suburban women were clearly energized by the Trump victory and the Trump presidency in a negative way,” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. Their lesson from the last election was that “if Donald Trump is president anybody can be president so I should run too, for at least Congress or state legislature.”
Democrats nominated women in key races that helped determine control of the House. Candidates like Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, and Angie Craig in Minnesota helped the party win Republican-held seats in the suburbs.
“Powered by a massive turnout of women and fueled by our incredible candidates, House Democrats gained several seats in the heartland,” Democratic Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois said in a statement Tuesday night after House control was called for Democrats. Democratic women won one Republican-held seat in Illinois, two in Iowa, and one in Kansas.
There were 15 Democratic women running on Senate ballots along with eight Republicans. In five states -- Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Washington and Wisconsin -- female candidates challenged sitting female senators.
Democratic Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota lost their races, while Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee. Nevada now has two female senators after Democrat Jacky Rosen defeated incumbent Republican Dean Heller.