The 2018 and 2020 election cycles were markedly different from prior ones, with women making remarkable gains in Congress, from 105 seats in the 114th Congress to 147 in the 117th Congress. A record number of first-time candidates, rebound candidates, and candidates of color also won their elections to state legislative office: from 1,799 in 2016 to 2,295 in 2022. Why did the 2018 and 2020 election cycles produce such large gains? A couple of factors combined to lead to the election of more women to state legislatures. These factors relate to the behavior of both the candidates and the national political climate. Record numbers of women candidates ran for state legislative seats because of, in part, extraordinary circumstances, from Donald Trump's first-term presidency and the Me Too and Black Lives Matter social movements to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The Pink Wave builds upon previous work on women in politics by extending the coverage to include the Trump era and by shifting the focus from women candidates generally to women candidates who ran in 2018 and 2020, specifically, and who were first-time candidates, rebound candidates, and candidates of color running for state legislative office. In The Pink Wave, the authors ask whether the “Trump effect” boosts the premium that women candidates as