(CNN) The coming Democratic takeover of the Virginia legislature has cleared the path for the state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which would ban discrimination on the basis of sex and guarantee equality for women under the Constitution.

Earlier this year, the state Senate voted to advance the ERA. But the bipartisan progress was halted in the House of Delegates, where Republican opponents blocked a full floor vote. The new Democratic legislative majority is poised now to finish the job -- and make Virginia the critical 38th state to back the amendment.

As they celebrated their sweep in Richmond, top Virginia Democrats promised the ERA would be a priority in 2020.

"One thing we are going to need to do right away is pass the Equal Rights Amendment in a Virginia," state Senate Democratic leader Dick Saslaw told a cheering crowd. "It's high time we include the women of this country in the Constitution of the United States."

Young woman holding a sign that reads, 'Give us liberty or give us death! Pass the 26th Amendment!' while sitting next to a middle-aged woman on a bench at an Equal Rights demonstration, 1970s. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Eileen Filler-Corn, who is in line to become the state's first female House speaker, also delighted supporters with a call to "pass the ERA!"

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