When a woman puts her mind to something, she is a force to be reckoned with. This is demonstrable in every aspect of society but was doubly reinforced on Tuesday with big electoral wins by Democrats across the country. In this election cycle, women were not only critically important in casting successful votes but also in running for office themselves.
In 2018, 40 women are already planning to run for governor. Dozens more are considering congressional and other statewide office bids. And Tuesday’s result has already become a rallying cry for activists seeking to draw even more women into the public square.
“This is huge,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List, the political group that backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights. “This is how we build momentum for 2018. Women are going to lead the way.”
To be fair, women have always led the way. If we understand that the personal is political, we know that women have been doing the unseen work of advocating for their families, communities and themselves for centuries. And black women, who have had the highest rate of voting than any other group of men and women in the last two presidential cycles, continue to be outspoken champions for themselves and their communities as well as the most reliable demographic in the Democratic Party—despite only holding a handful of seats in Congress and state legislatures.
What’s exciting is that not only has change arrived, it looks like it won’t be stopped. Women are not only running for office all over the country, they are winning—even in Republican strongholds.
It was a night of historic wins for women and minorities across the nation. In Helena, Mont., a refugee from Liberia became the first black mayor. Seattle elected its first female mayor in almost a century, and in Charlotte, a black woman won for the first time. [...]
In 2016, Emily’s List had discussions with a record 920 women interested in running for office, part of what was called the “Hillary bump.” Since that election, nearly 20,800 women have expressed an interest in running for office, according to its own tally.
Many of the newly elected women heading to the statehouse had never run for office before.
According to the research of Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox, women are less likely than men to think that they are qualified to run for office. And they are less likely than men to be encouraged to run. But we should be putting a lot of effort into supporting women and training them to run for office. Because they obviously can win. Here are just some of the wins for women, people of color and LGBT communities from Tuesday.
- In Topeka, Kansas, Michelle De La Isla became the city’s first Hispanic mayor and the second woman to be elected to the office.
- Transgender candidate Lisa Middleton was elected to the Palm Springs, California, City Council, becoming the first transgender person elected to a non-judicial office in the state.
- Transgender candidate Tyler Titus won a seat on the school board in Erie, Pennsylvania, becoming the first transgender person elected to office in the state.
- Seattle elected its first openly lesbian mayor, Jenny Durkan.
- Mary Parham-Copelan, who is black, became Milledgeville, Georgia’s first female mayor.
- Statesboro, Georgia; Cairo, Georgia; and Georgetown, South Carolina, all elected their first African-American mayors: Jonathan McCollar, Booker Gainor, and Brendon Barber, respectively.
- Cathy Murillo was elected the first Latina mayor of Santa Barbara, California.
There are lots of debates that are being had about what this all means for the Democratic Party. Pundits are quick to remind us that in off-year elections the party that isn’t in the White House generally does well. This is true. Its also true that people hate Trump and many were inspired to come out and vote against him. But Tuesday is also showing us something else. It has shown that so-called identity politics and social issues are not a deal breaker for our voters—the core of our party, not those white working class votes we always seem so pressed to get. When our core constituency comes out to vote, we can win. And we can do it running diverse candidates made up of women and people of color and members of the LGBT community. Let’s not be afraid of the future of our party and the diversity it represents. Let’s embrace it and turn out our voters so we can win and win big.