U.S. electons

The US midterm elections are set to be the 'year of the woman'

Things look dire, but 2018 could be the ‘year of the woman’

America looks set to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, a man who seems to think birth control is an “abortion-inducing drug”, as a supreme court justice. It is, to say the least, terrifying. But there is some good news amid this patriarchal hellscape: a new analysis by NBC News predicts that the midterms could see more than 100 women elected to the House for the first time in history.

NBC’s race-by-race analysis predicts that between 30 and 40 new women will enter the House next year. This is way over the current record of 24, which was set in 1992. Known as the “year of the woman”, the surge of new women elected was largely attributed to Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony during Clarence Thomas’s confirmation for the supreme court.

Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 and the growing #MeToo movement have inspired a historic number of women to run for office, many as first-time candidates. And they haven’t just been running – they’ve been winning, too. This week Ayanna Pressley beat Michael Capuano, a 10-term Democrat, and will become the first African American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress. Pressley’s win followed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over Joe Crowley in New York.