The 2014 midterm elections will provide Iowa with the chance to make history. 

The only states that have never elected a woman to Congress are Delaware, Mississippi, Vermont and Iowa. This coming election may be the year that Iowa sends not one but three women to Congress.

Republicans Joni Ernst and Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Staci Appel are all running for spots in Congress this year, and all have the goal to become one of the first women Iowa sends to Congress.

Ernst is looking to become Sen. Tom Harkin’s replacement as one of Iowa’s senators. Miller-Meeks and Appel are running for a seat in the House of Representatives. Miller-Meeks is running in District 2, and Appel is running in District 3.

This is not the first time that three women have run for Congress in Iowa. The years 1992 and 1996 both saw four women run for U.S Senate and the House of Representatives. There have been eight women that have run for the U.S Senate in Iowa’s history and 21 women that ran for the House of Representatives. None won their respective elections. 

“On average women actually have about a 52 percent chance to win an open-seat race and men a 48 percent chance,” said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women in Politics.

Bystrom believes Ernst has a great chance in her open-seat race.

“It’s a very hot, competitive race. She’s been up in nearly all of the polls, except sometimes I think it’s within the margin of error, so I think it’s a race that’s too close to call,” Bystrom said. 

The second race mentioned by Bystrom was the race in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District between Staci Appel and Republican David Young. 

“I also think that Staci Appel stands a good chance to get elected. Again it’s an open seat race, it’s very competitive. It’s a district in Iowa, the 3rd Congressional District, that is really seen as our most swaying district in the state,” Bystrom said. “I would say in my 18 years in Iowa, this is the best chance I’ve seen for women in Iowa to be elected to Congress, either one or two because they’re both in open-seat competitive races.” 

Bystrom said women elected to Congress prove to be effective.

“Research shows that women political leaders on average are more collaborative, more bipartisan, more focused on problem-solving and less tolerant of corruption than male politicians,” Bystrom said. “Women serving in Congress are also more likely than men to sponsor legislation focusing on women and family issues.”

Jonathon Laudner, president of ISU College Republicans, believes women are important in the political field.

“Obviously it is just as important for women as it is for anybody. They’re not particularly immune to any of the decisions that are made in [Washington] D.C. or in Des Moines,” Laudner said. “They have just as much importance in making sure that the decisions made in politics are equally beneficial to them as it is for everybody.”

Laudner also believes that there are obstacles women face in entering the field of politics.

“There are some stigmas that surround women in politics, and I would say that most of them are wrong. They’re perpetuated by men who have that old, ‘boys club’ mentality,” Laudner said.

“I think there have been successful women in politics, on both sides of the aisle. If here is a struggle, it is because the men involved have that old, ‘boys club’ feeling and just won’t let go of that stigma,” Laudner said.

Zoe Kustritz, president of ISU College Democrats, thinks women can bring something new to Congress once they are sent. 

“I think that women definitely bring the perspective of being a woman. Those men obviously have no idea what the female experience is like, and that’s half the population,” Kustritz said. “It’s like the same argument for diversity. Diversity is important to have a variety of perspectives.”

The feat of women impacting the political field outside Iowa would not have been possible without the help of women fighting for their rights in Iowa. There are multiple women whose impacts can still be felt today, like that of Carrie Chapman Catt. 

Catt in an ISU alumna who is regarded as a key figure in the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The university created the Catt Center in her honor. 

Hillary Kletscher, president of the Government of the Student Body, said the Catt Center provides an integral service to students. 

“The Catt Center empowers women to make a difference, and I think it really just goes back to having somebody to tell someone that you can do this, no matter who that is,” Kletscher said. “I think that is a really big deal in getting to the point where the glass ceiling for women in politics no longer exists.”