She’s also an Iraq war veteran, first-generation American and a lesbian. If she wins, she’ll be the first Filipina-American to do so – ever. In Texas, that includes Gina Ortiz Jones, who is running for Congress. Women have also set a new record in the race for seats in the US House of Representatives, with a total of 185 women – Democrats and Republicans combined – landing a major-party nomination to run.Īnd since Donald Trump was elected President, 36,000 women have expressed interest in running for office, according to Stephanie Schriock of Emily’s List, a progressive pro-choice organization that recruits and funds female candidates. So far, 61 women have run for governor in 2018, nearly doubling the record of female candidates set in 1994, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. There’s an unprecedented wave of female candidates – many of them first-timers – running for office up and down the ballot this year.