A record number of women candidates, more than 270, stood for office in the US midterm elections. So how did they go?
- Going into the midterm elections, 19 per cent of the Governor, Senate and House seats were held by women.
- There are still some seats undecided in this week's vote, but to date, 117 women have won across the Senate, House and Governor elections.
- Many of them have made history — such as the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress, the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first woman senators for their states.
- Once you add those to the handful of women Senators and Governors who did not have to face the electorate in these midterms (as only some positions were contested), the proportion of women now in power goes up to around 22 per cent.
Keep in mind: that 22 per cent figure could yet change as counting continues in the 10 per cent of races which have not yet been called.
Here's another way of thinking about those figures:
- Women stood for just over half the available seats up for grabs in the midterms;
- They have won nearly a quarter of the available positions.
Which party's women candidates were the most successful?
Three times as many women stood for the Democratic party as the Republican party - 211 for the Democrats and 64 for the Republicans.
Comparing how many of each party's women candidates won their seats, the Democratic women were more successful, particularly in the Senate and House races.
How did the women challengers go?
Around 80 per cent of the women candidates in this election were defending their seats, and around 70 per cent held them.
Of the women challenging for a new seat, one-third were successful.
