For the first time ever, at least 100 Democratic women are expected to serve in the chamber simultaneously. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, the chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said in a Wednesday statement. She added: “Women have borne the brunt of the Trump administration’s recklessness and Republicans’ extremist agenda, and on Tuesday they made it clear they have had enough.” Elect Democratic Women (EDW), the campaign arm of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus, has had its sights set on achieving that goal since the beginning of the cycle, several House Democratic women told The 19th last year.
It’s sort of a showcase number,” Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, a founding member of EDW, said in 2025. In 2026, the House battleground was at gender parity: of the 31 House seats Decision Desk HQ projected Democrats would flip as of 2 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 of those districts were flipped by women candidates.
Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said last year. They won in a variety of races, picking up seats in districts across the country in contests fueled by voter anger over rising prices and perceptions of corruption. In some races, women candidates challenged Democratic incumbents.
Rep-elect Jasmine Clark of Georgia launched a campaign against the late Rep. David Scott before he died in April at 80. Reps.-elect Melat Kiros of Colorado and Daraliza Avila Chevalier of New York, both democratic socialists, unseated sitting House Democrats in their safe-blue districts.
Clark will be the first Black woman PhD scientist in Congress, Kiros will be the first Black woman to represent Colorado and the first Generation Z woman in Congress and Chevalier will be the first woman of Dominican descent in Congress. Jeannette Rankin became the first woman to serve in Congress in 1917, three years before the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote — a right that was still restricted for many women of color. Women are half of the U.S. population, but hold just 28 percent of the seats in Congress.
Just 445 women have served in Congress, making up only 3.5 percent of all those who have served in either the House or Senate. The House had segregated gyms until 1985, when then-Rep. Barbara Boxer led a successful effort to integrate the far-superior men’s gym.
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