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Meet the 2,000 women about to storm into state capitals across the US

Women are becoming a force in state politics and will make up almost a quarter of the country's state lawmakers next year.

Much attention has been paid to the wave of women elected to go to Washington this fall, but women are also storming politics at the local levels.

More than 2,000 women will serve in state legislatures next year — growing the number of women in local chambers by several hundred and breaking previous records for female representation, according to new reports from

And these numbers could grow even larger, as the Associated Press has yet to call 216 state legislative races, which include about 185 female candidates. While women remain small minorities in the vast majority of bodies, they could end up making up majorities in the Colorado House and Nevada Assembly.

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"We are very encouraged by these results. This is the largest increase in women's representation in state legislatures we’ve seen in some time, after more than a decade of relative stagnation," Debbie Walsh, director of the Rutgers center, told the AP. "The only question that remains is whether 2018 was a one-off or a new norm."

Right now,

Experts say there is a host of reasons why female candidates are running in larger numbers, including anger at the current administration and frustration with the imbalance in power at every level of politics. There's also evidence that women, particularly when running in Democratic primaries, can use their gender to their advantage.

"I think we're getting closer to a time when we can talk about gender and particularly the gender experience you have as a credential for office and not as a hurdle that you have to overcome or avoid," .

But the so-called "pink wave" has much work left to do. Men will continue to make up just over three quarters of state lawmakers across the country.

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