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Democrats Won Back the House. They Have Women to Thank For That.


Women played a major role—both as candidates and voters—when Democrats seized control of the House of Representatives from Republicans in Tuesday’s tumultuous midterm elections. And even with some races yet to be called in an already record-breaking election year for female office-seekers, the non-partisan Gender Watch project noted that more women—and more women of color—will serve in Congress than ever before.

Not only did diversity take a front seat in Tuesday’s results, something else became crystal clear: Democrats could not have flipped the House blue without women. And in a midterm election cycle that was seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump—who has come under fire for his comments about women and accusations of sexual assault—the wave of women coming into Congress sends a major message.

As of early Wednesday, 92 women had been elected to the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, which calculated at that hour that “with 10 holdover Senators, the 116th Congress will have at least 112 congresswomen serving.”

“This resistance began with women and it’s being led by women tonight,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a perennial Trump foe who hasn’t ruled out running against him, told supporters Tuesday. A Reuters/Ipsos poll lent that theory some weight: It reported 55 percent of women said they supported a Democrat for the House this year, up from 49 percent who said they did so in 2014.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez praised “all of the Democratic leaders, organizers, volunteers, and voters – especially women” who contributed to the win.

As the final races are fought to the finish—including a cliffhanger Georgia governor battle—and turnout numbers are being crunched, here’s a rundown of some of the big wins and losses for women in an election that’s truly one for the history books:

HOUSE

It was a night of firsts for women looking to shake up Congress, including New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just became the youngest woman ever elected to the House.

Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib is now set to become the first Palestinian-American Muslim woman in Congress. She’ll be joined by Ilhan Omar, who will be both the first Somali-American Muslim congresswoman and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota in D.C.

Jahana Hayes of Connecticut and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts will be the first women of color to represent their states, while Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Sharice Davids of Kansas go to Washington as the first Native American congresswomen.

In Virginia, Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton defeated Republican incumbents in high-profile races, while Florida’s Donna Shalala and New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill also claimed victories in districts held by Republicans, as did Lauren Underwood of Illinois. Pennsylvania, which now has an all-male Congressional delegation, will send four women (all Democrats) to the Capitol. Iowa elected its first women—Democrats Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne—to the House.

Not every closely watched female House candidate carried the day, of course: Two Democrats who made their military service a centerpiece of their campaigns, Amy McGrath of Kentucky and MJ Hegar of Texas, both fell short. (In another nationally compelling Texas race, incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz managed to eke out a win over Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O’Rourke.)

SENATE

The Senate came into Election Day with a 51-seat GOP majority. That’s a tiny advantage—but it was enough to get conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court after a turbulent confirmation process during which he defended himself against allegations of sexual assault dating back to his student years.

In one of the tightest and most closely watched battles in the nation, freshman Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) beat Dean Heller, the only Republican defending his Senate seat in a state Hillary Clinton carried in 2016. The Nevada brawl pulled in support for Heller from both Trump (who denigrated Rosen as “Wacky Jacky”) and Vice President Mike Pence, while Rosen had the backing of their predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“This is a historic night for us,” Rosen said in her victory speech, noting that Nevada joins the handful of states represented by two female senators.

Democrats suffered Senate setbacks in North Dakota and Missouri, where incumbents Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill both fell to GOP opponents.

In Tennessee, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn clinched her bid to be the state’s first woman to go to the Senate, soundly defeating Democratic former Gov. Phil Breseden in a faceoff in which she had the endorsement of Trump and her opponent had a major social influencer, Taylor Swift, on his side.

Arizona will also send its first woman to the Senate — but as of Wednesday morning, the headline-grabbing showdown between Republican Rep. Martha McSally and Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema remained too close to call.

GOVERNOR

South Dakota elected its first woman governor, Republican Kristi Noem, while Democrat Janet Mills will be the first female governor of Maine. New Mexico voters chose their first female Democratic Latina governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

In Vermont, Democrat Christine Hallquist, the first openly transgender woman to win a major-party governor nomination, lost her underdog challenge to Republican Gov. Phil Scott, but in an upset, Kansas went with a Democratic woman, Laura Kelly, for governor over the GOP’s Kris Kobach.

Locked in a tight struggle rocked by racial overtones and charges of voter suppression, Georgia’s Stacey Abrams is vowing to fight for every vote in her quest to become the nation’s first African-American woman governor.

Abrams is the country’s last hope of seeing a black governor elected this year: Florida’s Andrew Gillum and Maryland’s Ben Jealous, both Democrats, lost their races. There are currently no African-American governors in office anywhere in the United States.

In the end, Tuesday’s news that the House would flip blue wasn’t directly addressed by the President, who called Election Night a “tremendous success” on Twitter and patted himself on the back for GOP wins in the Senate. But however he chooses to frame these midterms, a Democrat-led House may spell trouble for the president: It could make it harder for him to deliver on signature promises ahead of a 2020 re-election bid—and empowers critics who want to investigate his public policy and personal business dealings.

Stay tuned for more analysis of the 2018 midterms—and the role women have played in them.

Celeste Katz is senior political reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.In a pivotal election year, Glamour is keeping track of the historic number of women running (and voting) in the midterm elections. For more on our latest midterm coverage, visit www.glamour.com/midterms.

MORE: Midterms 2018: Here Are the Historic Firsts for Women From Election Night





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Watch Chrissy Teigen Almost Lose It Going Through a Haunted House on Ellen


It’s the most wonderful time of the year…when everyone subjects themselves to terrifying experiences all in the name of some Halloween fun. We binge-watch The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, scream over the return of Michael Myers in Halloween, and pay good money to have strangers in costumes scare us senseless at haunted houses and hayrides.

It’s also deeply gratifying—and hilarious—to watch other people completely lose it because they’re scared. Case in point: This incredible video of Chrissy Teigen and Ellen Degeneres’ executive producer Andy Lassner making their way through a haunted maze. Come for the screams, stay for the laughs.

Degeneres sent the two into the “Purge maze” at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights with a camera crew to document the experience. It’s an annual tradition for the talk show host to send Lassner into a haunted house for our viewing pleasure. In the past, he’s been accompanied by Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet, a writer from the staff, or even his own assistant. This year Teigen got the call—and, as with most things, she makes it even better.

To be fair, that haunted maze looks hella frightening and every person working inside would have made me lose it and scream a few obscenities, too. At various points Lassner resorts to crawling on the ground or attempting to physically shield himself with Teigen, who mocks his “alpha male” behavior once they finally make it back to daylight. Though, she also thinks he’s a “national treasure” and she’s totally right.

Lassner tweeted, “Ugh. Here ya go sickos. I hope my humiliation makes your day a little bit better.❤️”

Past years’ videos have garnered upwards of 18 million views, so people on social media were naturally very excited about this year’s installment. “Laughing so hard I’m crying,” one wrote. “This just made my entire day,” another tweeted. “I love you so much Andy your are such an alpha! Will be watching again on TV when I get home. Thank you!!”

Happy almost-Halloween, everyone!

Related: Chrissy Teigen Celebrated Her Mom’s Becoming a U.S. Citizen With the Cutest Video





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Netflix's *The Haunting of Hill House* Is Basically a Scary *This Is Us*


There are several scenes in episode two of Netflix’s new series The Haunting of Hill House that made me distinctly think, “Yup, I’m watching This Is Us with ghosts.” The first is a flashback when Shirley, the second oldest of the Crain children, is mourning the loss of her pet kitten and becomes horrified when a bug crawls out of its mouth. That’s scarring enough for any preteen, but then cut to a few days later when all of her other pet kittens die. Shirley freaks out—as any of us would—and her parents, Hugh and Olivia, have an argument. Olivia berates Hugh for giving Shirley the cats because she’ll now have a warped perception of death for life. Fast-forward some 20 years later, and what do you know? Shirley owns a mortuary with her husband.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting there’s something wrong with morticians, but this sequence of events is just so on the nose. Singular Childhood Incident Directly Impacts Adult in the Most Obvious Way: That’s straight out of the This Is Us playbook—just with, ya know, maybe-possessed cats.

PHOTO: Netflix

For those who don’t know about The Haunting of Hill House, let me back up. It’s a 10-episode horror series from Netflix based on the popular 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson. The show takes a lot of creative liberties, though. It’s set in present-day, and now based on the Crain family, which is comprised of mom Olivia, dad Hugh, and kids Steve, Shirley, Theodora, Luke, and Nell. Olivia and Hugh are house flippers who’ve decided to take on a mammoth, creaky mansion as their next project. The only problem, however, is that it’s haunted as fuck—like so, so haunted. There are ghosts all over this joint and even a red door in the upstairs they can’t open. A specter named the Bent-Neck Lady lurks around the kids’ rooms like Kim Kardashian in this GIF:

All the creepiness comes to a head one night when Hugh rushes the children out of the house and leaves Olivia behind. And then Olivia dies under mysterious circumstances. Twenty-plus years later, we see these kids as estranged adults who are still extremely traumatized—from the house, their mother’s death, and other reasons.

Saying anything more will give away key spoilers, so you’ll just have to watch if you’re now intrigued. From that synopsis alone, though, you can see the This Is Us parallels clearer than Haley Joel Osment saw dead people in The Sixth Sense. Melodramatic siblings! Flashbacks! A central mystery! The list goes on and on, so let me break down the key ways The Haunting of Hill House could easily be called This Is Us But Spooky:

1. The dynamic between the five siblings. The child Crain siblings are fairly happy go-lucky in their mansion despite all the ghosts, but as adults, not so much. Shirley and Theodora are tight, but Shirley is on the outs with Steve. Steve is on the outs with Luke. Nell just wants everyone to get along. You get the idea! There’s a lot of latent sibling tension that rings very close to the time Kevin called out Randall for being the favorite on This Is Us. The amount of drama between the Crains makes the problems on This Is Us seem like cake. At least Kate doesn’t have to worry about spirits from the beyond.

2. All those flashbacks. The Haunting of Hill House thrives on the art of flashback, much like This Is Us does. We’ll start with a scene from the past, and then see how those events have affected the family in present times. It’s eerily similar to the narratives on This Is Us. Just swap Mandy Moore’s grandma wig for paranormal activity. (The wig is still scarier.)

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3. What happened to Olivia? The Crain matriarch passes away mysteriously after the rest of the family leaves the house. The official report is that she died by suicide, but Hugh is convinced Hill House played a role in her death. After the first episode, you watch the series knowing Olivia is dead, but flashbacks help tell her story—much like Jack’s on This Is Us—and her demise is a central question on the show. (Stay tuned to see if a Crock Pot is involved.)

4. Thirst trap family members. On This Is Us, Justin Hartley is always walking around with his shirt off, and Randall exercises 5,000 times a day. Meanwhile, Michiel Huisman (who plays adult Steve on Hill House) has smolder for days that’s only enhanced by his hipster glasses. An atmospheric thirst trap!

5. The crying. Nell spends the entire first episode crying. Shirley spends a large chunk of the second episode crying, as does Luke. Hot Steve cries, too. I’m not judging them, of course—they’re dealing with literal ghosts—but the sheer amount of tears shed in just two episodes absolutely puts Hill House in This Is Us territory. Have tissues on hand when you watch—to cover your eyes when things get terrifying.

The Haunting of Hill House is now streaming on Netflix.





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Donald Trump Just Told White House Reporter Cecilia Vega She 'Never' Thinks


It’s probably no secret to most that President Donald Trump isn’t too happy with the press. From saying every outlet (other than a few of his personal favorites) disseminates “fake news” to repeatedly calling the press the “enemy of the people,” Trump isn’t shy about where he stands with journalists. But yet, somehow, he’s still able to shock us all by just how far the depths of his disdain for the media can go.

Take, for example, on Monday, when Trump told Cecilia Vega, the senior White House correspondent for ABC News (and winner of multiple Emmys) that she “never” thinks.

While giving a press conference in the White House Rose Garden to discuss the new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Trump, answering questions from reporters, called upon Vega. A brief pause followed as Vega stood up to grab the microphone. At that moment, Trump said with a smile, “she’s shocked that I picked her. Like in a state of shock.” Vega quickly responded, “I’m not, thank you, Mr. President.”

It appeared Trump may have misunderstood her, and replied, “That’s OK, I know you’re not thinking, you never do.” Vega, a consummate professional replied, “I’m sorry?” and continued on with her question. Even then, however, Trump continued to be dismissive. Vega asked the president about the ongoing FBI investigation into allegations Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, however, all Trump wanted to do was discuss trade. He later returned to Vega to answer her question.

Vega tweeted after the news conference, “A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask. #FirstAmendment.”

However, other journalists were quick to jump on social media to defend Vega and note that her line of questioning was entirely in reason.

“I very sincerely hope the president does indeed to @CeciliaVega to answer her respectful and entirely appropriate question on Brett Kavanaugh,” Hallie Jackson, chief White House correspondent for NBC News tweeted. “The White House, and POTUS, know they can’t dictate the content of questions. And the pres. has often taken off-topic Qs before.”

“Wow. @CeciliaVega asks Trump about limiting FBI investigation into Kavanaugh allegations,” Karen Travers, an ABC News reporter also covering the White House shared. “He doesn’t want to talk that, says he wants to talk trade. She follows w/Q about if it will pass Congress. Pushes again on Kavanaugh, still doesnt want to answer. WH aide GRABS mic from her.”

And as Vega’s ABC producer Alisa Wiersema shared, Trump apparently missed her extensive coverage of the trade deal already: “Took a post-GMA nap after a morning of helping @CeciliaVega report on trade, and woke up to this exchange,” she wrote. “Seems like the President didn’t tune in to see her already having covered his trade deal extensively today.”

Maybe next time we can hope for better. Maybe.

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Women and Minorities Outnumber White Men as Democratic House Nominees for the First Time Ever


This year has already been heralded as a year that women have made unprecedented gains when it comes to the number of female candidates leading up the November’s midterm elections.

But the surge isn’t limited to women—there have also been increased numbers of people of color and first-time candidates running. And now that wave has placed white men in the minority for one of the very few times in political history when it comes to Democratic house races, a new analysis from Politico finds.

According to the report, women in the Democratic Party have secured 180 House nominations this election cycle, up from the previous record of 120, according to Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics. Additionally, there are 133 nominees of color, and 158 first-time candidates (some of these categories overlap with one another).

A groundswell of women began showing interest in running for office following the 2016 presidential election, and they have made history at all levels of government. Some key records include an all-time high for female governor candidates and U.S. Senate nominees running in a single year.

To add to it all, women have been pulling off stunning wins, particularly in House primaries. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked most of the country when she beat 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in New York’s Fourteenth District and Ayanna Pressley followed suit in Massachusetts when she defeated another 10-term incumbent, Mike Capuano, a surprise to no one watching her political career. These wins bode well for other progressive candidates who represent a buck in the political status quo.

The midterms are still weeks away, so it remains to be seen how increased diversity in the candidate pool will actually affect final races. Women and people of color make up less than 20 percent of lawmakers in the 115th Congress—and that means there’s still so much more room to make the government look reflective of the people it represents.

In a pivotal election year, Glamour is keeping track of the historic number of women running (and voting) in the midterm elections. For more on our latest midterm coverage, visit www.glamour.com/midterms.

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Claire Underwood Is Taking Over the White House in the Newest 'House of Cards' Teaser


When House of Cards‘ lead Kevin Spacey, who played Frank Underwood, was fired amid allegations of sexual assault, Twitter responded to the news with one overarching request: Make Claire Underwood, Frank’s scheming co-conspirator played by Robin Wright, President.

After months of speculation about the show’s direction, including a hiatus to rewrite the final season so Spacey’s character was removed, it seems that social media has gotten its wish. For Independence Day (July 4), Netflix released a short teaser on Twitter for House of Cards‘ sixth and final season featuring Claire Underwood and Claire Underwood only. Its title, straight from Netflix: “A message from the President of the United States.”

The accompanying clip, though short, was loaded with details to dissect. In the twelve-second teaser, Claire sits atop a marble seat quite similar to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Her hair is in its signature sharp bob, and she’s dressed in a navy skirt suit—a vision of unwavering power. “Happy Independence Day,” she deadpans directly into the camera, “to me.” The ad ends with a similarly short, but powerful hashtag: #MyTurn. Watch it in its short, political glory, below.

Releasing the teaser on the Fourth of July was no accident on Netflix’s part. When Claire says “Happy Independence Day—to me,” she’s suggesting that, liberated from Spacey’s character, she’s in the driver’s seat from now on. Sure, for Claire’s ice-cold persona, that may include more room for plotting and political corruption—but it’s her turn to be fully in charge.

Claire Underwood’s ascension to power somewhat parallels the gains Wright has made by speaking up and asking for more in her role. In 2016, Wright notably revealed that she had not received equal pay with Kevin Spacey when she first began working on House of Cards—despite the fact that her character was more popular. “I was looking at the statistics, and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it,” she said at a Rockefeller Foundation speech in 2016. “I was like, ‘You better pay me, or I’m going to go public. And they did.”

House of Cards is clearly moving in a female-powered direction. And, as expected, Twitter was thrilled with the first look at Claire Underwood’s turn in the coveted presidential seat (er, throne.) “This is MY President!” one user replied to Netflix’s account. Another said, “Robin Wright was always the real star.” True that.

Let the countdown to House of Cards season 6 officially begin.

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