More than 150 years after Wyoming became the first place to give women the right to vote, the state is still seeing “firsts” for females.

To our knowledge, last week’s election was the first time in Park County’s history where every local legislative race featured at least one female candidate.

Three Republican women — incumbents Sandy Newsome and Jamie Flitner and newcomer Rachel Rodriguez-Williams — are poised to represent much of our area in the Wyoming House of Representatives, barring any successful challengers in November.

With only eight women now serving in the Wyoming House of Representatives, lawmakers from Park and Big Horn counties could potentially make up almost half of the state’s female representation in the House, depending on how races go this fall.

Considering that Park County went decades without a female legislator, we’re proud to see multiple local women step up in 2020 with a willingness to serve in public office. We hope this momentum carries on in the future.

In another first, only female candidates are advancing to the general election ballot in Wyoming’s races for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

In the House race, Republican incumbent Liz Cheney and Democrat Lynnette Grey Bull secured their parties’ nominations in last week’s primary election. Grey Bull’s win is especially historic, as she is the first Native American to win a major party’s federal nomination in Wyoming.

For the U.S. Senate race, former Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis and University of Wyoming professor Merav Ben-David will advance to the November election in another race that has historical significance.

“To be the first woman to secure the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Wyoming on the same day we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment is particularly special,” Lummis said in an Aug. 18 statement. “Wyoming’s pioneering history of ‘women firsts’ is a point of pride for all of us.”

On a national level, our country saw another first this month as Sen. Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for vice president. She is the first Black woman and the first Indian-American woman to be named on a major party’s presidential ticket.

All of these historic moments come as the United States is marking the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was officially certified, granting women the right to vote — a full 50 years after the first female voter cast her ballot in Wyoming. While Women’s Equality Day, recognized each year on Aug. 26, commemorates the progress we’ve made over the decades, it’s also a “symbol of the continued fight for equal rights.”

In the Equality State, women hold just 14 out of 90 seats in the citizen legislature — or 15.6%. The only states with a lower percentage of female representation are West Virginia (14.2%) and Mississippi (13.8%), according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Alabama is just barely ahead of Wyoming at 15.7%.

It’s one thing to read statistics, but another to see the Wyoming Legislature in-person, where it’s obvious that men far outnumber women. When looking into the Senate chamber a few years ago, a young girl asked her mom if women were allowed to run for the Wyoming Senate. That little girl’s mother, Affie Ellis of Cheyenne, decided to run, and went on to become the first Native American to serve in the state Senate.

“This notion of having a Senate with no women stuck with me,” Sen. Ellis told WyoFile last year. “If we’re going to have the voice of a young working mom in the Senate, it might as well be me.”

Our state benefits when diverse voices are heard and represented. While Wyoming may not always live up to its Equality State moniker, women are making strides here, as evidenced by the female candidates who stepped forward in 2020 for local, state and federal offices. We’ve come a long way over the past century, and we expect Wyoming women will continue blazing new trails.