Introduction to the Symposium on “The Role of Gender in the 2018 Midterm Elections”

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/1065912920948638
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Subject Matter: Mini-Symposium: The Role of Gender in the 2018 Midterm Elections

948638PRQXXX10.1177/1065912920948638Political Research QuarterlyBrown and Cassese
research-article2020
Mini-Symposium: The Role of Gender in the 2018 Midterm Elections
Political Research Quarterly
2020, Vol. 73(4) 923 –925
Introduction to the Symposium on
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“The Role of Gender in the 2018
https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920948638
DOI: 10.1177/1065912920948638
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Midterm Elections”
Nadia E. Brown1 and Erin C. Cassese2
A record number of women ran for congressional seats
and four states elected their first woman of color to
and in down-ballot races in the 2018 midterm elections.
Congress.
Across congressional and statewide contests, 2,649
The victories of women candidates in 2018 had greater
women won their primaries and 1,879 women won their
implications for party control than in 1992. Because
general election races (Center for American Women and
many of these candidates were successful at flipping
Politics [CAWP] 2018). As a result, the 116th Congress
Republican seats, Democrats regained control of the
includes a record high of 127 women, 47 of whom are
House and elected a female speaker. Democratic women
women of color. Major gains were made in the U.S.
flipped four of seven governorships and fifteen of twenty
House in particular, which ushered in the largest ever
six other statewide elected executive offices from
freshman class of women. Big state-level increases in
Republican-held to Democrat-held (Dittmar 2019). In
women’s representation were evident in New Hampshire,
these respects, Democratic women candidates’ success in
Texas, and Virginia, and especially Nevada, which elected
2018 markedly influenced the political landscape. This
the nation’s first female-majority legislature. The salience
noticeable partisan gap in women’s electoral victories
of gender during the election cycle drew comparisons
came primarily at the expense of the Republican party.
with the 1992 election, which was dubbed the “Year of
There are currently 106 Democratic women compared to
the Woman” by many media outlets. Much like in 1992,
21 Republican women in the 116th Congress (CAWP
the country was grappling with high-profile sexual
2018). While Democrats gained female elected officers,
harassment scandals. A spate of retirements resulted in an
Republicans lost ten congresswomen, dropping from
unusually high number of open-seat contests, and an
twenty-three to thirteen. Republican congresswomen are
influx of female candidates—especially among also less diverse. In the 116th Congress, all GOP women
Democratic contenders—led to a record increase in the
are white with the exception of Jaime Herrera Beutler
number of women elected to Congress.
(R-WA). While women have made tremendous gains in
Yet, 2018 differed markedly from 1992 in other respects.
achieving elected office, an intersectional analysis pro-
The female candidate pool was a considerably more
vides us with more insight into which women are winning
diverse group, varying in their race and ethnicity, sexual
political races.
orientation, and immigration status, meaning that many
Collectively, these aspects of the 2018 midterm elec-
key races required a broader focus than gender alone.
tions raise broader questions about representation, as well
Indeed, the...