Record number of women in Congress, but still much work to be done | COMMENTARY

It should be noted that the growth in women’s representation was driven in large part by the election of female Republicans, many of whom helped to turn blue states red, including Cuban American journalist Maria Elvira Salazar, who defeated President Bill Clinton’s former health secretary Rep. Donna Shalala in Florida. Yet women in the Republican Party are still woefully underrepresented, overall. This too, must change. Women are not a monolithic voting block and, while they will frequently bring some commonalities to issues, such as the experience of being moms and daughters, they will still offer different perspectives to the political debate on important bipartisan, politically divisive topics, such as abortion and pay equity. And Congress deserves to consider the full spectrum of ideas women have to offer.