The female factor.

• Position: Statestats - Female state legislators - Brief Article

This session will see 1,660 women legislators serving across the country. Women hold 22.5 percent of legislative seats in the 50 states, a ratio that has remained constant since the 1999 session. That percentage doesn't seem particularly high considering that women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population. But just 35 years ago, they held only 4 percent of legislative seats. Women's numbers have increased steadily over the years until seeming to peak in 1999.

California, Delaware and Vermont bumped Maine, Connecticut and Oregon off the list of states with the highest percentage of women legislators. New Jersey is no longer on the list of states with the lowest percentage of women legislators. It was replaced...