Women candidates inspire others to run

A record number of women are running for office nationwide. One reason behind the surge? Hillary Clinton.

That’s the finding from a team of researchers at the University of Colorado and Notre Dame who looked at the motivation behind the trend. They found women see other women as “symbolic role models” and are inspired to run for office when other women do, whether or not they win.

States with a female governor or US senator have higher numbers of women candidates, and researchers found a “legacy effect” that continued to boost the number of women who run in subsequent elections.

– Leah Steinberg, The 100 Companies