In 2016, Hillary Clinton made history as she became the first female presidential candidate to ever be nominated by a major political party. Though Clinton did not win the election, she paved the way for other women in politics, giving them a fighting chance. Later, 2018 became the “Year of the Woman” when a record 36 women were elected to Congress, 35 of them Democrats. Now, as the 2020 presidential election approaches, women have made history for the Democratic party, as there are more women running for a party’s presidential nomination than ever before.
So far, eleven people have announced their 2020 presidential campaigns; of those eleven, six of them are Democratic women. The first of these women to declare her campaign was Senator Elizabeth Warren on December 31, 2018. However, it was not made official until February 9, 2019. Running alongside Warren are Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Senator Kamala Harris of California, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and author Marianne Williamson of Texas.
Democratic women have already made a distinct impact in our government, as we saw in the results of the 2018 primaries. According to the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, 52.7 percent of Democratic House female candidates won their primary, having the highest win rate over any other group. Moreover, more women ran for, and won, the position of governor in 2018 than ever before. NBC News reports that 61 women ran for governor, sixteen of them won their party’s nomination, and of those sixteen, twelve of them are Democrats. Though not every woman won the nomination of the position she was running for, we still saw a significant increase in the number of women in the running than ever before. Women dominated the polls, and we can only expect to see more from them in the coming years.
Though the amount of women currently expected to run for president is historic, it doesn’t seem to be much of a surprise. President Trump has created policies that are hurtful to women and threaten reproductive rights, leading to a greater amount of politically active women who want to fight for their own rights. New female candidates also bring a new level of diversity to the table, thus providing the possibility of new ideas and perspectives. However, these women don’t plan on using their gender as an advantage during the race; they are relying on their records and their visions to earn votes and aiming to be respected as equals, breaking traditional sexist views and opinions against women in office.
2018 was a big year for women and it looks like the coming years will be even bigger. Hillary Clinton took a big step on behalf of women everywhere, giving them the potential to grow and earn the respect they deserve, as well as opening up a world of opportunity for them that was once unheard of. As more news of the upcoming 2020 election surfaces, Democrats remain hopeful that change can, and will, occur.