Women racked up victories across the country Tuesday. It may be only the beginning.
Women racked up victories across the country Tuesday. It may be only the beginning.
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Jennifer Carroll Foy won an open seat in the Virginia House of Delegates previously held by a Republican. Foy gave birth to twins during the campaign. She defeated her Republican opponent by 26 points. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
Until yesterday, only 17 of the 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates were women. Now, the number will surge to nearly 30. Women racked up victories across the country on Tuesday, and are being credited with the Democrats’ big night overall. It is a testament to the remarkable explosion of women candidates who have entered the political stage since Donald Trump was elected president one year ago.
The wave is likely to continue. 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.”
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. All of it revealed a dramatic election night fueled by opposite forces to those at work in 2016: A surging coalition of women, minorities and immigrants angered by Trump’s election and presidency — and eager for their voices to be heard in politics.
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Danica Roem, the first transgender member of the Virginia House of Delegates, defeated a long-serving conservative Republican in what happen been the Republican-leaning outer suburbs of Washington. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
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Ashley Bennett defeated a Republican incumbent for a seat on the Atlantic County, N.J., board. The Republican, John Carman, had shared a meme on Facebook asking whether participants in the Women’s March in January would be home in time to cook dinner. Angered, Bennett ran against him — and won. (Wayne Parry/AP)
In 2013, for instance, Democrats fielded candidates in only 67 House races, compared to 88 in 2017, Skelley said. “There was a noticeable uptick this year,” he said — and notable success by women. Lawless, from American University, said the lesson from Virginia, where so many usually safe incumbents lost, is to mount more challenges and not merely go for open seats.
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