Women currently hold less than one-third of congressional and state legislative seats. As of mid-March, women made up 26.4% of the U.S. Congress and 30.8% of state legislative seats.
Of the 36 non-incumbent women who won U.S. House seats in 2018, 35 were Democrats. Then in 2020, of the 28 non-incumbents who won seats in the U.S. House, 19 were Republicans.
40% of non-incumbent women who won in state legislative races in 2020 were Republicans, up from 24.5% in 2018.
As of the end of March, in the 435-seat U.S. House there were 118 women, 87 Democrats and 31 Republicans. In the 100-seat U.S. Senate there are 24 women, 16 Democrats, and 8 Republicans.
In 2020, less than one-third of candidates who filed to run in congressional races were women and subsequently accounted for less than 36% of party nominees, 27.4% of House winners and 20% of Senate winners. [19thnews.org 3/23/21]
Dr. Rachel L. Levine, President Biden’s nominee as Assistant Secretary for Health, is the first openly transgender individual to win U.S. Senate confirmation.
[LAW360 3/24/21]
Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico has been confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Interior. Haaland is the first Indigenous cabinet secretary in our history. [Heather Cox Richardson 3/16/21]
Tishaura Jones, the current treasurer of the city of St. Louis, has been elected as the city’s first black female mayor.
There are currently 300,000 residents of St. Louis. The city has lost 556,000 residents since 1950. It ranks 13th among cities with concentrations of Fortune 500 companies. [theguardian.com/us-news 2021]
Globally, women hold a number of jobs affecting the global economy;
Janet Yellen as U.S. Treasury Secretary, Christine Lagarde at the helm of the European Central Bank, Kristalina Georgieva at the International Monetary Fund, and Ngozi Okonjo-lweala at the World Trade Organization. [Broadsheet 4/7/21]
Kimberly Godwin, EVP of CBS News, has agreed to become president of ABC news. [NBC News 4/9/21]
Women now make up 20% of the Air Force, 19% of the Navy, 15% of the Army, and almost 9% of the Marines. Women now make up 10% of the current veteran population. [Google 3/12/21]
Women will have equal opportunities with men in
- Western Europe women – 52.1 years
- North American women (U.S. and Canada) – 61.5 years
- Worldwide women – 135.6 years
- East Asia and Pacific women – 165 years
- South Asian women – 195.4 years
[Axios 3/30/21]
Aretha Franklin, who had twenty No.1 R&B hits, was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame. [NYT 3/21/21]