EDITORIAL: Women belong in government

Nov. 16—Last week's midterm elections saw some more shattering of the glass ceiling for women in politics.

A record 12 women — four Republicans and eight Democrats — will serve as governors beginning in 2023, representing nearly a quarter of all governors in the U.S., according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. They include Democrat Laura Kelly, who won reelection to her gubernatorial post in Kansas, and Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who will serve as Arkansas' governor.

Near-record numbers of women will serve in Congress. With a few races still outstanding as of Tuesday, at least 24 women will serve in the U.S. Senate, just shy of the record 26 women set in 2020, and at least 121 women will serve in the U.S. House, just shy of the record 123 women set earlier this year.

We've come a long way since 1866, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an independent from New York, was the first woman to run for the U.S. House but received only 24 votes of the 12,000 that were cast, or 1922, when Rebecca Latimer Felton, a Georgia Democrat, became the first woman appointed to the U.S. Senate but only served one day.

Even so, there is clearly plenty of work still to be done. Just over a quarter of the current members of Congress are women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics — and a measly 3.2% of all members of Congress to date have been women. There's also room to diversify, as 64.6% of current congresswomen identify as white, the center says.

Women belong in government at all levels. Americans in general seem to agree that having female leaders brings a number of benefits: In a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, a majority of respondents said women were better than men when it came to being compassionate and empathetic, and were better at working out compromises and standing up for what they believe in. More respondents said female political leaders would do a better job of serving as role models for children and maintaining a tone of civility and respect than men, according to the survey.

In her only Senate speech, as documented in her official Senate biography, Felton concluded with the following prediction: "When the women of the country come in and sit with you ... you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism and you will get unstinted usefulness."

Indeed! Congratulations to all the women who were elected this month. We hope you do great things and inspire new female candidates to follow in your footsteps.