Women in politics broke barriers this year—from Kamala Harris’s historic Vice-Presidential election to the record 141 women who will serve in the 117^th Congress. We are celebrating 2020’s many breakthroughs, and looking forward to the strides women in politics will make in the year ahead.

As we covered prior to November’s election, women ran for office in record-breaking numbers this year: at least 115 women of color ran for Congress; more women ran against other women than ever before, and a number of women candidates (such as newly-elected Congresswomen Cori Bush and Kathy Manning) ran after a previous electoral loss.

Once Election Day passed and the votes were tallied:

• Women of color made historic electoral firsts across the country—including in New Mexico, which became the first state to elect an all-women of color Congressional delegation.
• Of the 141 women who will serve in our next Congress, a record 51 are women of color
• Nearly half (44%) of the 61 new members of the House of Representatives will be women (18 Republicans and nine Democrats).
• The House in particular will see record-breaking numbers of Black women, Latinas, and Asian or Pacific Islander women.
• The 117^th Congress will also include a record number of Republican women.
• A record number of women (at least 2,275) will serve in their state legislatures in 2021.
• At least six state legislatures are headed toward a woman majority next year.

Stay tuned for more news on women in politics in 2021, and happy holidays!