(CNN) The highest -- and toughest -- glass ceiling remains unshattered.

This year's presidential election ultimately was not kind to Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential nominee for a major party, but down-ballot, some of the election's female candidates made history.

From the Senate and the House to statehouses across the country, female challengers won office. The US Senate will welcome four new female members.

"I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now," Clinton said in her concession speech Wednesday.

And for some women who were running, the words rang true.

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