For most of our history, both in US history and in Texas history, there was not an equal representation within Congress. In Texas history, the numbers were unfortunately smaller. Since the election of 2016, many people, most specifically women, are making an impact in running for office. As a result, for the first time in history, there has been an increase in women running for office compared to any other time in history. A few reasons that influenced their decisions include their responses towards President Trump’s election, the amount of open seats due to a mass wave of retirement, and the increased support of voting for women.
The Election of 2016 caused havoc from both political parties (Democrats …show more content…
In the past, there has only “been part of a trio of women representing Texas in the U.S. House” and there has been issues due to the fact that “no freshman woman has come to Congress from Texas since” the Election in 1996 (Livingston). A couple reasons why women were not running for office is due to “gerrymandered districts would protect incumbents, an aversion to commuting to Washington while raising children, and general apathy” (Livingston). In addition, most of the women who are running for office are usually from the Democratic Party and have received much support in return; however, there has been GOP donors who would support and vote for women in the coming election to promote a more diverse Congress. These women are observed to post “larger gains,” as the “number of potential female Democratic House candidates increasing by 146 percent compared to 126 percent among Democratic men” and their opposing “GOP potential candidates” have also observed an increase in “25 percent for men and 35 percent for women;” however, a statistic in the Dallas News states that “roughly one in five Congress members are women, most of them are Democrats” (Leslie). In addition, “out of the 535 House and Senate lawmakers,” there has been observation that only “106 are women. And of those, only 27” hold Republican seats (Leslie). If we want to have more women represent …show more content…
The rise of the Trump administration has encouraged women to step up to engage in politics to run for office. In addition to the Trump administration and the widespread negative outlook of his responses, the vast retirements occurring within office gives room for new and future representatives, many of those that will potentially be women. Furthermore, having more support for women voters will grant an increase in recognition for women to take a greater role within office, as well as a higher respect in their opinions for Texas. In my opinion as a woman, I am hopeful that the rise for women representation and presence to serve Texas will become greater than it is currently