MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
Silver Taps
Tuesday night we honor the fallen • 10:30 p.m. Tuesday • Academic Plaza
Andrew Keith Kalinke 7/3/98 — 6/4/18
Joseph “Joe” Little 4/13/00 — 8/28/18
Sophie Pearl Rosenberg 6/19/99 — 10/15/18
SENATE SHOWDOWN Election Day Nov. 6 CANDIDATE COMPARISON AND VOTING INFORMATION ON PG. 6
Photo illustration by Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Graphic by Nic Tan — THE BATTALION
235 women are running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 22 are running for Senate seats.
‘Pink wave’ washes over elections Female candidates make ballot in record numbers By Henry Mureithi @HenryMureithi5 This November, 257 women will be on the ballot in congressional races across the United States, with 235 for the U.S. House of Representatives and 22 for the Senate. Some journalists have labeled this unprecedented number of women running for office the “pink wave.” The previous records were 167 female candidates for the House in 2016 and 18 for the Senate in 2012. According to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, among the
non-incumbents who ran in primaries, about 48 percent of female candidates won their primaries compared to approximately 23 percent of men. Additionally, women make up 23 percent of non-incumbents running for congressional seats in 2018 compared to 16 percent in the previous two congressional elections. Associate professor of political science Sarah Fulton said the majority of female nominees are running as challengers. “Historically, challengers have a low probability of winning because of incumbency advantage,” Fulton said. “The expectation is that maybe you might add — if there’s only a five percent chance of [challengers] winning — something like seven to eight seats they might pick
up. I think there is a possibility that women might increase their seat share [in Congress].” Fulton said recent developments such as the #MeToo campaign and controversies like the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh have played a role in mobilizing female political engagement in the country. “I think the #MeToo movement has really encouraged [political activity] among women,” Fulton said. “There have been women’s marches, and they have been trying to recruit more women to run for office.” One hundred eighty-three of these female candidates are Democrats, while 52 are Republicans. GENDER ON PG. 5
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Over 400 community members gathered in Bryan for Ted Cruz’s speech.
Cruz speech draws crowd Republican Senator makes Friday appearance in Bryan By Keegan Hottinger @HottingerKeegan The conference hall at the Bryan Expo Center was crowded on Friday night, as over 400 Ted Cruz supporters welcomed the senator with an enthusiastic ovation. The Republican incumbent, who was first elected as Texas senator in 2012, stopped in Bryan to greet a largely conservative showed their
support with T-shirts and signs. Led to stage by chants of “Ted,” the senator began his speech, immediately focusing on the significance of this year’s midterm elections. “Today is an important day to be a Texan,” Cruz said. “Every day is an important day to be a Texan. This election is pivotal and we will make a choice between one of two paths for Texas.” Cruz’s 30-minute speech centered around many of the issues that he said are especially important to CRUZ ON PG. 5