NPR

Is The Record Number Of Women Candidates A 2018 Blip — Or A Lasting Trend?

The number of women candidates has smashed multiple records this year. So experts are asking if 2018 will fundamentally change what it takes to get women to run.
Source: Danielle Kurtzleben

Lauren Underwood, Democratic House candidate in Illinois' 14th district, is part of a record boom of women running for office in 2018 – from Congress to governorships to state legislatures across the country.

But she didn't just wake up one day and decide this was the year.

The 31-year-old nurse, who also worked in the Obama administration Health and Human Services Department, says she hadn't really considering running for office...but then, she heard that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was digging into the numbers to see where they might be able to compete in 2018.

"I was like, 'What? I want to know about the data on Democrats

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