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Hear Them Roar ...

Women's issues—and women's votes—were front and center in the Nov. 6 vote. If anyone has any doubt that women make a decisive difference in deciding who leads America, let us put that thought to rest (as we figure out how to elect a woman to the Senate in Mississippi).

LOSERS: Of six Republican congressional candidates who made absurd and insulting public comments about pregnancy, abortion and rape, voters defeated all of them. They include:

Tom Smith, U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania (winner: Bob Casey with 54 percent)

Linda McMahon, U.S. Senate, Connecticut (winner: Chris Murphy with 55 percent)

Rick Berg, U.S. Senate, North Dakota (winner: Heidi Heitkamp with 50.5 percent)

Roger Rivard, State Senate, Wisconsin (winner: Stephen Smith with 582 votes)

Todd Akin, U.S. Senate, Missouri (winner: Claire McCaskill with 55 percent)

Richard Mourdock, U.S. Senate Indiana (winner: Joe Donnelly, 49.9 percent)

WINNERS: The 113th Congress will have a record number of women serving. The U.S. Senate will have 20 women (16 Democrats, 4 Republicans), and the House will have 77 (57 Dems, 20 Repubs).

Four states elected women to the U.S. Senate for the first time: Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Wisconsin.

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will be the first openly gay person in the U.S. Senate.

Mazie Hirono (D-HI) will be the first Asian/Pacific Islander American woman elected to the U.S. Senate and the first U.S. Senator born in Japan. Hirono is only the second woman of color to serve in the Senate.

Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) will be the first Hindu American in Congress.

• Formerly the last state legislative chamber without any women, South Carolina elected a woman to its state Senate.

New Hampshire elected a female governor (Maggie Hassan, D) and an all-woman congressional delegation of two senators and two representatives.

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