The 2018 Election Season Saw the Highest Number of Women in American History Run For, and Elected To, Federal Office: Who Are They?

Updated: The 2018 Election Season Saw the Highest Number of Women in American History Run For, and Elected To, Federal Office: Who Are They?

US Capitol Map

Updated November 16, 2 pyem, E.S.T./Tam Martinides Gray/

The 2018 election season saw the highest number of women in American history run for, and elected to, federal office. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, nearly 260 women candidates were successful in their primary elections. As of press time, a record-breaking 118 women were elected to serve in the 116th Congress, with several races remaining undecided. An additional ten women Senators were not up for reelection this cycle, which would bring the total number of women who will serve in the House and Senate next year to 128 to date.

Senate
The Senate will remain in Republican control and, as of press time, will include 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats, including 23 women, with several races remaining undecided. Ten of the incumbent Senators who ran for reelection in 2018 won their bids: Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Maria Cantwell (DWA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), who was appointed in April to replace Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), will face Mike Espy in a runoff on November 27. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) lost their reelection bids.

Three newly elected women will join the ranks of the Senate next year: Sens.-elect Marsha Blackburn (RTN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), all of whom currently serve in the House. Sen.-elect Sinema will be the first woman to represent Arizona in the Senate

California, New Hampshire, and Washington will continue to be represented by two women Senators. With the reelection of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and the election of Rep. Jacky Rosen, Minnesota and Nevada also will be represented by two women Senators in the 116th Congress.

House of Representatives

Control of the House of Representatives shifted on Election Night, with Democrats poised to be in the majority for the first time since 2011. With several races still yet to be determined, 228 Democrats and 198 Republicans will be sworn into the 116th Congress. This includes 105 women in the House (including 4 delegates), a net gain of 16 seats to date. The number of women includes 90 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Of the six races left to be decided, one features an all-female slate of candidates.

Heading into Election Day, fourteen women Members retired, lost their primaries, or ran for another office: Reps. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Carol Shea-Porter (DNH), Niki Tsongas (D-MA) retired, while Reps. Diane Black (R-TN), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), and Kristi Noem (R-SD) left to pursue governorships. Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) lost her primary bid; Reps. Blackburn, McSally, Rosen, and Sinema mounted Senate campaigns. Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) and Karen Handel (R-GA) lost their reelection bids, while Reps. Mia Love (R-UT), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Mimi Walters (R-CA) remain locked in races currently too close to call.

The 116th Congress will be among the most diverse in the nation’s history, with 43 African American, Latina, Asian American, and Native American women elected to Congress. Two women, Reps.-elect Donna Shalala (D-FL) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), are of Middle Eastern descent. Reps.-elect Tlaib and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) will be the first Muslim women elected to Congress; Reps.-elect Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sharice Davids (D-KS) are the first Native American women to serve in Congress. Reps.-elect Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) will be the first African American women elected from New England to Congress.

Women newly elected to the Senate

Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) defeated former governor Phil Bredesen (D-TN) for the seat left open by Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) retirement. She served eight terms representing the 7th District of Tennessee in the House of Representatives, where she was a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Sen.-elect Blackburn previously served in the Tennessee State legislature.

Sen.-elect Jacky Rosen (D-NV) defeated incumbent Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV). She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 and was a member of the Armed Services and Science, Space, and Technology Committees. A former computer programmer and software developer, Sen.-elect Rosen previously led a team that constructed one of the largest solar projects in Henderson and southern Nevada.

Sen.-elect Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) defeated Rep. Martha McSally (R) for the seat left vacant by Sen. Jeff Flake’s retirement. She served two terms representing the 9th District of Arizona in the House of Representatives. During her tenure, Sen.-elect Sinema served on the Financial Services Committee. She was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004, and to the state Senate in 2010.

Women newly elected to the House of Representatives

Rep.-elect Cindy Axne (D-IA) defeated incumbent Rep. David Young (R). The fifth-generation Iowan previously served in several positions within Iowa state government, including the Departments of Natural Resources and Administrative Services. She became an activist for education and all-day kindergarten programs in her community.

Rep.-elect Angie Craig (D-MN) defeated incumbent Rep. Jason Lewis (R) in a rematch from 2016. The former newspaper reporter previously worked at Global Human Resources before a long career at St. Jude’s Medical Center. During her tenure at St. Jude’s, she launched a women in business program that brought more women into management positions.

Rep.-elect Sharice Davids (D-KS) defeated incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder (R). She is a former Mixed Martial Arts athlete who later became a White House Fellow during the Obama and Trump administrations. She is among the first Native American women to serve in Congress and the first LGBTQ individual to represent Kansas in Congress.

Rep.-elect Madeleine Dean (D-PA) defeated Dan David (R) in a newly drawn district. A former trial attorney and English professor, Rep.-elect Dean was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2012. She previously served as local township commissioner and was appointed to the Governor’s Pennsylvania Commission on Women.

Rep.-elect Veronica Escobar (D-TX) defeated Rick Seeberger (R) for the seat left open by Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s Senate bid. She previously served as County Commissioner and County Judge for El Paso. Rep.-elect Escobar formerly served as Communications Director for the former mayor of El Paso, as well as a nonprofit executive and professor of English and Chicano literature.

Rep.-elect Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) defeated incumbent Rep. Rob Blum (R). She first was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives at the age of 25. She previously served as a page to Rep. Jim Nussle (R) and state Rep. Pat Murphy (D). An Iowa volunteer for Joe Biden’s presidential bid, she is the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress.

Rep.-elect Elizabeth “Lizzie” Pannill Fletcher (D-TX) defeated incumbent Rep. John Culberson (R). She is an attorney who co-founded Planned Parenthood Young Leaders. Rep.-elect Fletcher is a civil rights attorney who became the first female partner at her law firm.

Rep.-elect Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) defeated Phillip Arnold Aronoff (R) for the seat left vacant by Rep. Gene Green’s retirement. Rep.-elect Garcia served five terms as Director and Presiding Judge of the Houston Municipal System, and later was elected City Controller. The first Hispanic woman elected to Harris County Commissioner’s Court, she later served in the Texas State Senate.

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Updated: The 2018 Election Season Saw the Highest Number of Women in American History Run For, and Elected To, Federal Office: Who Are They?

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