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Record number of women in California Legislature
On Monday, a record number of women will be sworn in to the California state Legislature.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California state Legislature will see a record high of 59 women serving this season.
This is double the number of women compared to seven years ago.
The statewide gender equity campaign, Close the Gap, set a goal of gender equality in seats by 2028.
At 49 percent women, the Legislature will miss gender parity by just one seat, and two session cycles ahead of time.
This is also the first time in history the California state Senate will have a majority of women.
"It's not only notable that we're finally going to have about 50 percent of lawmakers being women, but that a lot of the women are women of color," said Melissa Michelson, political science professor at Menlo College. "So we're seeing diversity in a number of levels now in the California state Legislature with Black, Latina, and Asian women in addition to white women coming in and representing the public."