Women are the majority on the debate stage — for the 1st time in history

With eight women — four candidates and four moderators — participating, this is the first time in history that women make up the majority on a presidential primary debate stage, the Democratic National Committee says.

Wednesday night's debate — featuring candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) — is being moderated by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News' Kristen Welker, and The Washington Post's Ashley Parker.

NPR notes that women also dominated the speaking time during the first half of the debate, with Warren talking for 6 minutes, 35 seconds and Klobuchar for 5 minutes, 49 seconds. Klobuchar used some of her time to discuss what it's like for women in politics, saying they are "held to a higher standard. Otherwise we could play a game called 'Name Your Favorite Woman President,' which we can't do because it has all been men, including all vice presidents being men." She also took a swing at President Trump, declaring that "if you think a woman can't beat Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi does it every single day." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.