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By Jennifer Radcliffe
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A record number of women rode the Democratic wave into office on Tuesday in the midterm elections, winning governorships, congressional seats and statewide offices in what some experts say could reshape policy priorities on healthcare, childcare and reproductive rights.
At least 155 women are projected to serve in Congress next year, surpassing the previous record of 152 in 2024, and now account for nearly 30 percent of lawmakers. Democrats are projected to have at least 111 women in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. That compares to 17 Republican women that will serve in the House.
Another 106 women will serve in statewide elective executive offices in 2027, up from 97 currently. Women are projected to hold at least 34.2 percent of statewide executive positions nationwide. That includes governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, state treasurers and other officials who often have significant influence over laws and policies.
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In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa became the state's first female governor in more than three decades and its first Latina governor. In New Mexico, Deb Haaland became the first Native American governor in U.S. history.
"This was a political earthquake," Mary Ziegler, a leading historian of abortion politics and law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, told Newsweek.
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What Happens Next
The question facing Washington and state capitals is no longer whether women can win elections. It's what happens when record numbers of women hold offices with authority over spending, legislation, healthcare and executive power.
Political scientists caution that party affiliation remains the strongest predictor of how elected officials vote. The overwhelming majority of the women elected in 2026 were Democrats, making it difficult to separate the impact of gender from the impact of party.
But researchers say representation shapes what government prioritizes.
"When you're making legislation, you always want a diversity of experience at the table," Michele Swers, a professor of American politics at Georgetown University who studies women in Congress, told Newsweek.
Women lawmakers have historically been more likely to focus on issues including healthcare, childcare, education, paid family leave and maternal health, Swers added. Those differences, however, do not necessarily mean women vote dramatically differently than men in the same party.
"Those issues become a priority for you, and you're willing to spend political capital on them," Swers said.
The new generation of women elected this year often campaigned directly on those experiences.
Following her gubernatorial victory in Texas, Hinojosa told supporters: "I never set out to be a politician. I am a mom. I am a mom who loves her children, who believes in their teachers, and who believes in Texas public schools."
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Swers said the effects of women's political gains are often gradual rather than immediate.
"Congress works slowly," she said, noting that major policy changes are often built over years through committee work, spending bills and negotiations rather than headline-grabbing legislation.
She pointed to veteran Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Patty Murray of Washington state and Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who have spent years advancing policies related to paid family leave, healthcare, and childcare, and now occupy positions with significant influence over federal spending.
"They're going to be very pivotal players in those negotiations," Swers said.
The comparison is especially striking because many of today's senior women lawmakers entered politics during the 1992 "Year of the Woman," when a then-record 54 women served in Congress. One of the most prominent was Murray, who was once dismissed by critics as a "mom in tennis shoes" before rising to become one of the Senate's most powerful members.
Abortion Access on the Ballot
The impact of the blue wave could be especially significant on abortion rights.
Following the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, abortion became one of the defining issues of 2022 elections. The issue drew less attention this year, as concerns about affordability, immigration and the economy dominated much of the campaign.
But Kelly Baden, vice president for U.S. policy and communications at the Guttmacher Institute, said abortion remained an important undercurrent even when it was not leading campaign advertisements or dominating headlines.
"Abortion is on the ballot in every race, whether you know it or not," Baden told Newsweek, who added that voters often focus on governors and members of Congress while overlooking attorneys general and other statewide officials who can have enormous influence over abortion access.
"A race like attorney general can have such an impact on national abortion access," she said.
Baden pointed to Texas, where the incoming attorney general, Nathan Johnson, has already signaled potentially significant shifts in abortion-related policy and litigation. Because Texas is one of the largest states in the country and a major source of interstate abortion travel following the state's abortion ban, changes there could have effects far beyond state lines.
"To have Texas make a change is such a big deal," Baden said.
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She also cited Georgia, where Lance Bottoms has pledged to work toward repealing the state's six-week abortion ban.
Because Georgia serves as one of the few states in the Southeast where abortion remains available after fetal cardiac activity restrictions take effect elsewhere in the region, Baden said changes there could affect access throughout surrounding states.
"Any loosening of the really restrictive abortion laws in Georgia is really going to have an impact well beyond the state's borders," she said, adding that abortion access and reproductive rights continue to motivate many Americans.
"I do think abortion is a motivating factor for a lot of voters," she said. "Even if it doesn't make the top three headlines or exit polls, I do think it's an issue for a lot of people."
Ziegler warned that Democrats' victories do not eliminate major threats to abortion access.
Federal court cases, regulatory actions and future executive decisions could still significantly reshape reproductive-rights policy. Even as Democrats gain power in states and Congress, many key disputes remain unresolved.
"Even though Dems won in a really spectacular way and changed the calculus in a lot of ways of what's possible, there are still policy threats," Ziegler said.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Jennifer Radcliffe.
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