A few months ago, I wrote about the sexual abuse allegations against now-former Seattle mayor Ed Murray, and how they revealed the hypocrisy within the Democratic party and leftists in general with regard to sexual abusers in our midst.

The time between then and now hasn’t been great for liberals on the sexual assault front, with abuse allegations surfacing against Democratic donor and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and defenses of him coming from such notable abusers as Woody Allen and apologists such as designer Donna Karan and Lindsay Lohan.

The #MeToo campaign encourages women to share their stories of sexual assault and harassment, and those of us who have been lucky enough to avoid sexual harassment got a window into how pervasive it really is. It’s been a hard few months for liberals and people who have basic human decency.

It’s been a hard year.

But in Seattle, at least, things are looking up. The mayoral race to replace Ed Murray is well underway, and the two candidates in the general election are both women. For the first time since 1926, Seattle will have a female mayor.

This may not sound like a big deal; the general state of women in politics is so dismal. Despite making up 50% of the population, women make up 19.3% of the U.S. House of Representatives and 21% of the U.S. Senate. Out of 50 states, women hold only six governorships, and of the 100 largest cities in the United States, only 20 are headed by a woman. On Election Day this November, Seattle’s going to make it 21, and we should be excited.

Seattle is a progressive city in a progressive part of the country. When people think of liberalism and progressivism, they think of the Pacific Northwest, and in particular the cities of Seattle and Portland.

Seattle has two first-time female candidates running for mayor, one of whom is a former United States attorney, the other of whom is a dedicated community activist. In one way or another, both women have devoted their lives to serving their communities, and we need more candidates like them. It’s easy for men to get elected to public office. Men can fall back on their ‘business connections,’ or the good old boys network that’s committed to keeping more of the same in office and in public policy.

For women to engage in public discourse is a radical act. When my mother first ran for the school board in my hometown, she had over a decade worth of volunteering and activism in the public schools under her belt. Her opponent was a man with no experience in the schools and a business background. Almost everyone told my mother not to run. That she was certain to lose, that the man running against her would do a far better job than she would.

My mother persisted. My mother won her election by 20 points and has served the students and teachers of our district ever since.

More women should run for public office. Run for county council. Run for student body president. Get involved in politics. If you don’t like how you’re being represented, represent yourself and other people like you. And if people tell you no, keep going until you find someone who will tell you yes.

Seattle shouldn’t have to wait another 91 years to have a woman in the mayor’s office.