A surge of female politicians has scorched the way to a possible Congress filled with more women than ever before, and this is the perfect year for it.

I believe this surge of women, who ran full-force into the limelight by taking on the possibility of an election to Congress, realized that to make a change for women in this country, it will depend on them— not the administration in the White House.

President Donald Trump’s comments, captured on audio from 2005 and obtained from the New York Times, were not only disrespectful, but vulgar; they shouldn’t have been said, and not toward women, or anyone at that matter.

Bills have almost passed through the U.S. House and Senate in 2017 that would determine the outcome of things pertinent particularly to women, like abortion and birth control cost. The representation of male and female voters in Congress was unequal.

In 2017, women comprised 50.8 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This same year, however, the U.S. House was 19.6 percent female and the U.S. Senate was 21 percent; a low representation compared to the total female population.

Women have responded to the lack of respect from the president and lack of representation by applying for Congress in numbers never seen before. The crude comments aimed at their counterparts from Trump and votes that should include more women is no longer something to idly listen to or watch, it’s something to change— and I believe women will do just that.

On Nov. 6, 2018, 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are up for election. This year, 476 women filed for a U.S. House seat and 53 filed for a U.S. Senate seat, according to Rutgers election watch data.

Of those women, 256 will be on a ballot in November. How incredible would a Congress be that has equal representation of men and women?

Women left in this race are of all ages, races, sexual orientations and professions and ready for what’s to come. Women are finally taking a stand to dominate the political spectrum and have a say they should have had all along— and we should all be ready for it.