The media is calling 2019 the year of the woman because of the stunning growth of women who ran and won seats in the 116th US Congress.

The women did not come to play. According to NPR, 98 women have won their House races. Up from 84 in 2018, and at least 13 women won Senate seats.

Grace Segers of CBS predicted in September 2018 that “there could be more women senators walking the halls of Congress than ever before.”

Now, as of 2019 women make up nearly 23.7 percent of the House of Representatives. That might not seem like something to celebrate, but this isn’t the first successful year for women in politics.

1992 was also named the “Year of the Woman,” after the number of women in Congress for the first time reached double digits.

Yep, it went from 6% to 10%. Not much, you might say, but there are now 127 women serving in Congress. and out of that number, 37% (or 47) of female Congresswomen are women of color.

The numbers don’t lie; the gains in Congress make this a special year. 2019 could see women making a tangible impact and teaching young women that they can be successful in a male-dominated profession.

The woman is here! Where have they been? Well, they can’t really get in. A vast majority of the Senate ran for reelection, and in 2016 over 95% of the senators who ran again, won.

According to Sarah Ruiz-Grossman of The Huffington Post, “women of color are about 20 percent of the U.S. population but [were] only 7 percent of nominees for Congress in 2018 (up from 4 percent in 2012 and 2016).” These numbers show how difficult it is for new people to get into government.

So for a moment, let’s congratulate these amazing women who have taken on this challenge with a smile.

If our nation hopes to see more “years of the woman” in the future, there is more work to be done.