Regardless of the outcome of three still-undecided Senate races that female candidates were still contesting early Wednesday morning, the Election Day results assure that an unprecedented number of women will serve in the 113th Senate when it convenes in January.
The victories of Sens.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Deb Fischer (R-NE) assure that the retirements of Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will be more than fully offset.
That means a record 18 women, at a minimum, will serve in the Senate in 2013 and 2014.
One of those women, Baldwin, is the first openly gay member ever to be elected to the Senate.
Three more races — in North Dakota, Nevada, and Hawaii — had yet to be called as of 1:30 a.m. ET, but are being contested by female Democratic candidates: Heidi Heitkamp, Shelley Berkley, and Mazie Hirono.