Women in the legislature: numbers inch up nationwide.

• Position: Includes related article on top and bottom 10 states for women legislators

It was that old good news, bad news scenario for women in the '98 election.

On the bonus side, Washington state has set a record for all legislatures in the United States. When lawmakers there are sworn in this month, almost half - 41 percent - will be women, a first for women in the states. In Arizona - another first. And it truly was the "year of the woman." Women virtually took over the state, winning the top five offices - governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and superintendent of public instruction. The sweep is the first in U.S. history. Thirty-two women will be serving in the Legislature, down by one from the 1996 elections.

There also are a record number of women in the Nevada Legislature - 23, five in the Senate and 18 in the Assembly. That surpasses the old record of 22 in 1995.

On the down side, women are nowhere near parity with their male counterparts, except in Washington. In Michigan, women were unable to increase their numbers from 31 in the House. Former Representative Maxine Berman blames term limits. "This was the first time since at least 1982, when I was elected, that we didn't add to the number of women.

"That's directly because of term limits," she said. Although 16 women were elected, she added that it was "on the backs of 16 other (incumbent) women whose opportunity was taken away. It means we're going to have to struggle to hold our own."

In Kentucky, the number of women in the Senate doubled - but you can still count them on one hand. Two more female senators were...