There is a new record for women in Congress. This article is correct at the time of writing. 141 women will serve between the House and Senate in 2021. This breaks the previous record of 127 after the 2018 midterm elections. That is 116 women serving in the House of Representatives and 25 serving in the Senate. That number could change because Kamala Harris will have to resign her seat when she becomes Vice-President.
What is more interesting is the number of Republican women who were elected. At least 26 Republican women will serve in the House of Representatives and 8 Republican women will serve in the Senate.
This is exciting because traditionally we don’t hear from the voices of conservative women in a law-making capacity. Maybe with so many conservative women in Congress we can pass real maternity leave in this country?
Fifty women of color have been elected between the House and Senate.
While these numbers are exciting, it’s far from enough. Women are slightly over half the population and yet women are only representing about one third of the votes in Congress overall. Women and people of color are grossly underrepresented in our law making bodies.
Representation matters. What I have learned this year more than anything is that I know nothing of what it is like to be a person of color. It is my job to read and learn more, but I will never understand what it is like to be a woman of color.
All women: women of color, liberal and conservative women, are running for federal office. Seeing women in power will hopefully show society that women in power is exactly where they belong.
