Updated at 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 27
Each time a female candidate won her seat, a feather was colored in. The final product will convey exactly how many non-incumbent women were elected to office. So far, 40 feathers have been painted in. We will continue to update the mural until all the races have been called.
Watch a time lapse of the process below:
Here is a list of the first-time female candidates who won their races:
1. Ayanna Pressley (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MA–7
Pressley ran an insurgent primary campaign to defeat the district’s 10-term congressman, Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D), and was unopposed in the general election. A Boston City Council member and onetime political director to then-Sen. John F. Kerry, she is the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress.
2. Donna Shalala (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM FL–27
Shalala has long ties to the Clintons and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2008. She won the seat vacated by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), a key pickup target for Democrats in 2018.
3. Jennifer Wexton (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM VA–10
Wexton defeated Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) in one of the most closely watched midterm elections in the nation.
4. Sylvia Garcia (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM TX–29
A state senator and former commissioner of Harris County, Garcia is one of the state’s first Latinas in Congress, along with Veronica Escobar. She ran for the seat in 1992.
5. Veronica Escobar (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM TX–16
Escobar, an El Paso County judge, said President Trump’s “rampant corruption and collusion” prompted her run. She is one of Texas’s first Latinas in Congress, along with Sylvia Garcia.
6. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM NY–14
The 28-year-old activist, who identifies as a democratic socialist and ran on abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and making Medicare a universal program, defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley, the fourth-ranking House Democrat. Ocasio-Cortez becomes the youngest woman elected to Congress.
Activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley, becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress.
7. Ilhan Omar (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MN–5
Omar previously broke barriers in 2016 when she became the first Somali American legislator in the United States. Now she also claims the title of first Somali American elected to Congress. Her win this election also poises her to become one of the first Muslim women in Congress, alongside fellow Minnesotan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, who also won her race Tuesday.
8. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM FL–26
She defeated Republican Carlos Curbelo. In June, she released an ad that highlighted her story as an immigrant in a district that is 70 percent Hispanic.
9. Gretchen Whitmer (D)
ELECTED GOV. OF MICH.
Whitmer served in the Michigan House and Senate for over a decade before running for governor. She becomes the state’s second female governor.
10. Mary Scanlon (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM PA–5
Scanlon directs the pro bono practice for national law firm Ballard Spahr; that includes work on pay equity for women and assistance for those fleeing violence and persecution. She succeeds a congressman who resigned under an ethics probe for using taxpayer money to settle a former aide’s sexual harassment suit. Her win tonight breaks up the state’s all-male delegation.
11. Chrissy Houlahan (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM PA–6
A former high school chemistry teacher and Air Force captain, Houlahan founded a sports apparel company and ran an early-childhood literacy program. Her win tonight, along with others, breaks up the state’s all-male delegation.
12. Marsha Blackburn (R)
ELECTED SEN. FROM TENN.
Blackburn, a conservative House member who has aligned herself closely with President Trump, becomes Tennessee’s first female senator.
13. Sharice Davids (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM KS–3
Davids becomes the first Native American and first openly gay member of Congress from Kansas. She is also the first Native American woman elected to Congress.
14. Susan Wild (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM PA–7
Wild’s win helps break up Pennsylvania’s all-male delegation.
15. Mikie Sherrill (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM NJ–11
Sherrill, a first-time candidate who was inspired to run after the 2016 election, defeated Republican Jay Webber.
16. Rashida Tlaib (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MI–13
Tlaib takes over the seat vacated by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D), who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Her win this election poises her to become one of the first Muslim women in Congress, alongside fellow Minnesotan Democrat Ilhan Omar, who also won her race Tuesday.
17. Carol Miller (R)
ELECTED REP. FROM WV–3
A bison farmer and state legislator, Miller says she would support President Trump on the border wall, oppose abortion and protect gun rights.
18. Debra Haaland (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM NM–1
Haaland, along with Sharice Davids from Kansas, becomes the first Native American woman elected to Congress.
19. Madeleine Dean (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM PA–4
A state legislator considered a rising star, Dean breaks up Pennsylvania’s all-male congressional delegation.
20. Elaine Luria (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM VA–2
First time candidate Luria, one of several female military veterans who ran for Congress this year, defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Scott W. Taylor (R). Her victory over Taylor flipped a GOP stronghold district that had voted predominantly Republican for the last 18 years.
21. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
ELECTED GOV. OF N.M.
Lujan Grisham has been elected to replace Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, meaning New Mexico will become the first state to elect two women to the governor’s mansion consecutively.
22. Lauren Underwood (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM IL–14A registered nurse and former Obama appointee to the Department of Health and Human Services, Underwood won more votes than the six men, combined, in her primary. She went on to defeat incumbent Republican Randy Hultgren in the general.
23. Lori Trahan (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MA–3
Trahan has won the seat after emerging from one of the most crowded Democratic primaries of the year.24. Laura Kelly (D)ELECTED GOV. OF KAN.Kelly, the last major candidate to enter the race, surged in its final weeks. Before her election to the state Senate, she led the Kansas Recreation & Park Association.
25. Abby Finkenauer (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM IA–1
Finkenauer becomes one of the first female House members to represent Iowa, along with Cindy Axne. She also becomes one of the youngest women elected to Congress.
26. Cindy Axne (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM IA–3
Axne becomes one of the first women to represent Iowa in the House, along with Abby Finkenauer.
27. Kendra Horn (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM OK–5
28. Lizzie Fletcher (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM TX–7Fletcher defeated Republican incumbent John Culberson in a neck-and-neck race for a seat Democrats hoped to flip in 2018.
29. Abigail Spanberger (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM VA–7
Spanberger defeated incumbent Republican Dave Brat, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. This district was targeted by Democrats in 2018.
30. Angie Craig (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MN–2
Craig becomes the first openly gay representative from Minnesota. She challenged incumbent Jason Lewis, whom she lost to in 2016 by two points and who gained national controversy recently for once asking why he could not call women “sluts.”
31. Jahana Hayes (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM CT–5
Hayes is Connecticut’s first black Democrat in Congress. Like many teachers who ran this cycle, she was dissatisfied with federal education policy.
32. Janet Mills (D)
ELECTED GOV. OF MAINE
Maine has never elected a woman to the governor’s office. Mills becomes the state’s first female governor.
33. Kristi Noem (R)
ELECTED GOV. OF S.D.
She will be the first woman to serve as South Dakota’s governor.
34. Haley Stevens (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MI–11
Stevens defeated Lena Epstein (R) for the seat.
35. Jacky Rosen (D)
ELECTED SEN. FROM NEV.
Rosen defeated incumbent Sen. Dean Heller, who was considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans in this cycle.
36. Susie Lee (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM NV–3
Lee, a wealthy philanthropist, defeated fellow non-incumbent Danny Tarkanian in what’s considered one of Nevada’s most competitive House districts.
37. Elissa Slotkin (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM MI–8
Slotkin defeated Republican incumbent Mike Bishop. She has served three tours of duty in Iraq. She worked on the national security staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
38. Xochitl Torres Small (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM NM-2
Torres Small is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, and her campaign has excited Latina voters in the most Hispanic congressional district in the nation’s most Hispanic state. This southern New Mexico district will be represented by a woman for the first time.
39. Lucy McBath (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM GA-6
McBath is a first-time candidate and anti-gun violence activist who said she was inspired to run by the Parkland students’ political enthusiasm. She won in a district Republicans had held since 1979.
40. Kim Schrier (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM WA–8
Schrier won the seat being vacated by Rep. Dave Reichert (R). It was a top Democratic pickup hope for 2018.
41. Katie Hill (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM CA–25
Hill, a former advocate for the homeless, earned early backing from Emily’s List and defeated several Democrats in the primary. She identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community and defeated Rep. Steve Knight in a seat targeted by Democrats for pickup.
42. Kyrsten Sinema (D)
ELECTED SEN. FROM ARIZ.
Sinema, a House member since 2012, defeated fellow congresswoman Martha McSally to become the first female senator from Arizona.
43. Katie Porter (D)
ELECTED REP. FROM CA–45
Porter earned the earliest-ever in-cycle candidate endorsement from Emily’s List, a progressive organization that boosts Democratic women who support abortion rights. She defeated incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters (R) in a district targeted by Democrats in 2018.
44. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)
RE-ELECTED SEN. FROM MISS.
Hyde-Smith was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Republican Thad Cochran, who retired in April. She has now won a full term in the Senate.
