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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Women Running for Office: A Long-term Trend?

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Monday, November 12, 2018   

INDIANAPOLIS — Votes are still being counted, but we already know the number of women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives last week is a record high. Nonetheless, when they take office in January, they'll represent only one-quarter of the 435 House members.

Louisiana State University professor Nichole Bauer has studied women's efforts to achieve parity in politics. She said at least 123 women will serve in the 116th Congress, boosting the share of female lawmakers from 19 percent to just over 22 percent.

But Bauer also noted more than half the women running in the primaries didn't win, which suggests continued mobilization is critical.

"Whether that will sustain in 2020 depends on how many resources the political parties are willing to put into backing female candidates at the local level, at the state level and at the House level,” Bauer said.

She says trends continue to show women only win elections if voters consider them "significantly better candidates" than the men they're running against.

Historic milestones for women in the midterms included Minnesota's first-ever Muslim congresswoman, the first two Native American congresswomen, Massachusetts' and Connecticut's first black congresswomen, and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Many said they ran for office this year to resist the politics of President Donald Trump. And Bauer said the real standouts were women of color.

"Women did not increase their representation in Congress in 2016,” she said. “And I think that was a real moment where women realized that their voices are not going to be heard in legislative institutions unless they are in those legislative institutions."

While there were increases in the numbers of women and minorities in Congress, Bauer added the differences in party affiliation are significant. Of the 123 women headed to Congress, only about 6 percent are from the Republican party.


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Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

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The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

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New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

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