Women Candidates Made Historic Gains in Representation - 2012 Election Results - Heitkamp 20th woman in Senate!
Women Made History on Tuesday!
New Hampshire has the distinction of electing the first-ever all-women delegation, by electing Gov. Maggie Hassan (D), and Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter (D) and Ann McLane Kuster (D). They join Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Kelly Ayotte (R). Governor-elect Hassan will be the only female Democratic governor in 2013.
20 women will hold Senate seats in the 113th Congress! This is the most ever. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota was the last Senate race to confirm a winner.
At least 17 women will join the Freshmen class as Congresswomen in the 113th Congress (two Arizona seats are still pending). Of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, at least 77 of those in the 113th Congress will be women, breaking the current record of 73!
Of the approximately 90 new Members of Congress (House and Senate), 22 are women.
New Women Senators
Tammy Baldwin (D) - Wisconsin Deb Fischer (R) - Nebraska Heidi Heitkamp (D) - North Dakota Mazie Hirono (D) - Hawaii Elizabeth Warren (D) - Massachusetts
Re-Elected Women Senators
Maria Cantwell (D) - Washington
Dianne Feinstein (D) - California
Kirsten Gillibrand (D) - New York
Amy Klobuchar (D) - Minnesota
Claire McCaskill (D) - Missouri
Debbie Stabenow (D) - Michigan
Of the 17 current female Senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) and Olympia Snowe (ME), both Republicans, are retiring.
Women Who Won (or races still pending)
Alabama
District 2 Martha Roby (R)
District 7 Terri Sewell (D)
Arizona
District 1 Ann Kirkpatrick (D)
District 2 Martha McSally (R) - pending
District 9 Krystan Sinema (D) - pending
California
US Senate Diane Feinstein (D)
District 6 Doris Matsui (D)
District 12 Nancy Pelosi (D)
District 13 Barbara Lee (D)
District 14 Jackie Speier (D)
District 18 Anna Eshoo (D)
District 19 Zoe Lofgren (D)
District 24 Lois Capps (D)
District 26 Julia Brownley (D)
District 27 Judy Chu (D)
District 32 Grace Napolitano (D)
District 35 Gloria Negrete McLeod (D)
District 36 Mary Bono Mack (R)
District 37 Karen Bass (D)
District 38 Linda Sanchez (D)
District 40 Lucille Roybal-Allard (D)
District 43 Maxine Waters (D)
District 44 Janice Hahn (D)
District 46 Loretta Sanchez (D)
District 53 Susan Davis (D)
Colorado
District 1 Diana DeGette (D)
Connecticut
District 3 Rosa DeLauro (D)
District 5 Elizabeth Esty (D)
District of Columbia
At-Large Eleanor Holmes Norton (D)
Florida
District 5 Corrine Brown (D)
District 14 Kathy Castor (D)
District 22 Lois Frankel (D)
District 23 Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)
District 24 Frederica Wilson (D)
District 27 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R)
Hawaii
Senate Mazie Hirono (D)
District 1 Colleen Hanabusa (D)
District 2 Tulsi Gabbard (D)
Illinois
District 8 Tammy Duckworth (D)
District 9 Jan Schakowsky (D)
District 17 Cheri Bustos (D)
Indiana
District 2 Jacki Walorski (R)
District 5 Susan Brooks (R)
Kansas
District 2 Lynn Jenkins (R)
Maine
District 1 Chellie Pingree (D)
Maryland
District 4 Donna Edwards (D)
Maine
Senate Elizabeth Warren (D)
District 3 Niki Tsongas (D)
Michigan
Senate Debbie Stabenow (D)
District 10 Candice Miller (R)
Minnesota
Senate Amy Klobuchar (D)
District 4 Betty McCollum (D)
District 6 Michelle Bachmann (R)
Missouri
Senate Claire McCaskill (D)
District 2 Ann Wagner (R)
District 4 Vicki Hartzler (R)
District 8 Jo Ann Emerson (R)
Nebraska
Senate Deb Fischer (R)
New Hampshire
District 1 Carol Shea-Porter (D)
District 2 Ann McLane Kuster (D)
Nevada
District 1 Dina Titus (D)
New Mexico
District 1 Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
New York
Senate Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
District 4 Carolyn McCarthy (D)
District 6 Grace Meng (D)
District 7 Nydia Velazquez (D)
District 9 Yvette Clarke (D)
District 12 Carolyn Maloney (D)
District 17 Nita Lowey (D)
District 25 Louise Slaughter (D)
North Carolina
District 2 Renee Elmers (R)
District 5 Virginia Foxx (R)
North Dakota
Senate Heidi Heitkamp (D)
Ohio
District 3 Joyce Beatty (D)
District 9 Marcy Kaptur (D)
District 11 Marcia Fudge (D)
Oregon
District 1 Suzanne Bonamici (D)
Pennsylvania
District 13 Allyson Schwartz (D)
South Dakota
At-Large Kristi Noem (R)
Tennessee
District 6 Diane Black (R)
District 7 Marsha Blackburn (R)
Texas
District 12 Kay Granger (12)
District 18 Sheila Jackson Lee (D)
District 30 Eddie Bernice Johnson (D)
Washington
Senate Maria Cantwell (D)
District 1 Suzan DelBene (D)
District 3 Jaime Herrera Beutler (R)
West Virginia
District 2 Shelley Moore Capito (R)
Wisconsin
Senate Tammy Baldwin (D)
District 4 Gwen Moore (D)
Wyoming
At-Large Cynthia Lummis (R)
UPDATE 10:29 PM
WOMEN WIN IN THE SENATE
Elizabeth Warren - Massachusetts Claire McCaskill - Missouri Debbie Stabenow - Michigan Deb Fischer - Nebraska Kirsten Gillibrand - New York
WOMEN WHO LOST SENATE RACES
Linda McMahon - Connecticut Cynthia Dill - Maine Wendy Long - New York
UPDATE ELECTION NIGHT 7:44 pm
Watch these three House races, among those expected to be close:
California District 36
Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (R) challenged by Paul Ruiz (D)
Minnesota District 6
Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (R) challenged by Jim Graves (D)
Utah District 4
Congressman Jim Matheson (D) challenged by Mia Love (R)
Yes, women are a critical part of the electorate, and we also serve in elected offices nationwide. Since suffragist Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress in 1916, representing Montana, women have been elected to and served in the House and Senate. Rebecca Felton, another suffragist, became the first woman to serve in the Senate when she was appointed by the governor of Georgia to serve a vacancy in 1922.
In 2012, women set a record for the number of filings in the House and Senate: 299 women filed to run for House seats, beating the previous record of 262 in 2010; 36 women filed to run for the senate, surpassing the 2010 record. This year, 138 women won their parties' primaries. Nationally, women could be serving in record numbers if all of the women running for national office are elected on November 6th. 18 women are running in the Senate, and 141 in the House.
Soon, our voices may not only be heard, but they may also echo in the halls of Congress! At the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, Susan J. Carroll, Professor of Political Science claims "we stand to have the largest number of new women elected to the House since 1992."
In the 112th Congress, women hold 16.8% of the 535 seats(17/100 in the Senate and 73/435 in the House.) Here are some facts about women in the current Congress:
26 states have female representation Four states have never elected a woman to Congress
Delaware, Iowa, Mississippi, and Vermont 17 women are currently serving in the Senate 73 women are serving in the House of Representatives
24, or 27.0%, of the 90 women serving in congress are women of color. In addition, an African American woman and a Caribbean American woman serve as Delegates to the House from Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands, respectively.
How many women are running in 2012
Senate - 18 (20D, 16R)
6 incumbents 8 for open senate seats 4 are challenging current senators
House - 166 (118D, 48R)
66 incumbents 26 for open seats 74 are challenging current house members
Records broken in 2012:
Women who filed for Senate races (36) Women who won primaries for Senate seats (18) Women who filed for House races (299) Women who won primaries for House seats (166)
Who is Running:
The Center for American Women in Politics has a complete list of the Women Congressional and Statewide Executive Candidates 2012
Races to Watch - Women in SENATE Battleground States
(Latest polling from Real Clear Politics)
Connecticut Linda McMahon (R)/Chris Murphy (D) Murphy+5
Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren (D)/Scott Brown (R)* Warren +3
Missouri Claire McCaskill (D)/Todd Akin (R) McCaskill +6.3
North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp (D)/Rick Berg (R) Berg +5.7
Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin (D)/Tommy Thompson (R) Baldwin +2.2
* incumbent
Use the Election Night Women Candidates Scorecard to keep track of women candidates.
PolicyMic will be live blogging the presidential election. Bookmark and refresh this page to follow along for updates on the races featuring women.
