I chuckled a little at the front-facing sign proclaiming, “KavaNope!”.
Following Kavanaugh’s hearing from a week ago, it’s no surprise to hear that a record-breaking gender gap was formed, showing the rise of Democrats. Many women all over the country have stood together during the tough hearing, motivated to cast their ballots in earlier for our upcoming midterm elections.
The Kavanaugh case has no doubt fueled more women to participate in the elections. Adding on to the case from two years back, when the first woman nominated for presidency by a major party, Hillary Clinton, was defeated by the disruptive Donald Trump. That triumph with Trump has gained Republicans a close group of core supporters, but also encouraged a wave of women to start stepping in, including GOP-leaning independent women who have voted for Republicans in the past.
The results thus far have solidified the idea that women are stepping up and taking charge of this midterm election. “Women candidates, women voters and women issues are all together at the forefront, and that’s been true the whole cycle,” said Democratic pollster, Margie Omero. Not only that, the Kavanaugh’s dramatic nomination hearings have caused an even bigger gender divide in the voting pool.
The poll released by CNN came in recently, showing a growing group of women voting for the Democratic congressional candidate in their district with a steady increase from 33% to 63%. On the other hand, men who are more likely to vote for the Republican have increased minimally from 45% to 50%. There were also reports that more women were running for office as Democrats. The Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics released that 235 women have already been nominated from the house, a stark increase from the previous record of 167. There were also 22 women nominated for the Senate, up four from previous record, with another increase in six nominations for governor, resulting in a total of 16 women this year.
Kavanaugh’s case was most certainly not the only spotlight on sexual assault this year. Following the cases of powerful men in Hollywood, the technology industry in Silicon Valley, and even our current president, our patience with the #MeToo movement will truly be tested during this midterm elections.
Image source: T. Chick McClure
But the battle for #MeToo movement doesn’t end there — will women’s response to Kavanaugh’s actions fuel more Democrats’ participation or will it instead provoke a backlash among Republicans who think that the #MeToo movement has been taken too far?
As this midterm election battles on the edge of the #MeToo movement, this could possibly warrant a reshape on the nation’s political parties in our next presidential election in 2020.
And as a woman, immigrant, and a person of color, my fingers are crossed that the #MeToo movement will stand strong to make a mark in the political world.