Not long after the November 2020 election, WPLN’s Co-Founder and President, Larissa Martinez, sat down with Debbie Walsh, Director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, to discuss strategies and trends of successful female candidates in 2020. Many people dubbed 2018 as “The Year of Woman”—a record number of women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The gains made by women that year were historic and catapulted the number of women serving in Congress from 89 to 117, 43 of which were women of color.

The 2020 national election had big shoes to fill in maintaining and building on the success of the recent midterms. Although the 117th Congress did not exceed the previous record of 39 new women elected to Congress, there was still great progress made by female candidates across the country. This year, there were 21 newly elected women to the U.S. House of Representatives and three more women elected to the U.S. Senate.

Women continued to make history as Wyoming elected its first female Senator just this year and New Mexico sent an entire House delegation consisting of only women of color to Congress. Left-leaning women maintained their 89 seats in the U.S. House while right-leaning women gained 15 additional seats. And women of color on the left were just as successful in 2020 as they were two years ago, but women of color on the right saw significant increases in their numbers.

Congressional newcomers were not the only women who saw success this past election, either—female incumbents in the House of Representatives were able to keep almost all of their seats from 2018. And in the U.S. Senate, Women maintained the same number of seats they had in 2018 with the exception of Vice-President Elect and former Senator Kamala Harris and Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler who faces a run-off in January. Women running campaigns for state legislators were also very successful in gaining more female representation for their counties and local districts.

Walsh explained that there is still a partisan disparity when it comes women serving in Congress, but coupled with the gains made by women this year and in 2018, we’re likely to see continued forward movement and increased representation. She believes that the concerted intentional effort of training, mobilization and other efforts to empower women to run for office is the reason for success this year and other election cycles to come. And the efforts of organizations across the country helping women get on the ticket for primaries is a key factor in female success in general elections. Women’s Public Leadership Network continues to bridge this gap and provides women with easily accessible knowledge and resources to make running for elected office, getting appointed to public office, and engaging in the political process a reality.

Watch the entire conversation below or on our Facebook page.