Despite the devastating loss at the top of the ticket, we are encouraged that women won all of the most competitive Senate races, and we are celebrating the victories of Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Elissa Slotkin, Jacky Rosen and Tammy Baldwin. 

In an election that saw a red wave sweep out three incumbent male Senators, we do not take these wins lightly, especially given the women were outraised 3 to 1 by the men. But now that results are in for most of the House races, we are disappointed about the final outcome for women overall:

• The number of women in Congress will essentially remain stagnant. We estimate 150 women will serve in the 119th Congress. That includes 125 in the House— one fewer than the 126 who currently serve—and 25 in the Senate. Women overall drop from 28.2 to 28 percent of Congress, which brings the US from 75th down to 81st in the world in the percentage of women in elected office.
  
• Democratic women prevented larger losses. Democratic women in the House will gain a member, going from 92 to 93, while Republicans will lose two members, going from 34 to 32. In the Senate, Democrats maintained one woman-held seat (in Michigan) and gained two (in Delaware and Maryland).
  
• Women of color will make slight gains. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, there were 65 women of color serving in both the House and Senate at the end of last year. We estimate there will be 66 in the next Congress. All gains are from Democrats winning safe seats, including two in New Jersey, one in Delaware (Senate), one in Maryland (Senate), two in California, one in Arizona, and one in Washington.

On the statewide front, women now make up 26 percent of governors, although that increase came from former Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s victory over Joyce Craig in New Hampshire. And New Mexico is the second state in the country to reach parity for women in the state legislature, joining Nevada. 

The fact that women did not make larger gains in Congress during 1) the first presidential cycle after Dobbs and 2) a year when a woman led the ticket, is discouraging. But with a red wave sweeping Democrats out of the presidency and Congress, and Republicans’ abysmal recruiting of women this cycle, the damage could have been much worse. 

Democrats stopped the bleeding and left us in position to make gains in 2026. WomenCount will be working for that every second until then—can you help us by contributing $25 or more to fund our work in 2025?