| |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Follow CAWP on Election Night
|
The midterm elections are one week away and the team at CAWP will be tracking results in real time on November 6th. To keep up with the numbers, follow
CAWP's tally of women elected to the U.S. Congress and gubernatorial offices on election night 2018. In addition, CAWP staff will update our full state-by-state candidate lists to reflect winners and losers throughout election night and as results continue to be determined. Watch our
U.S. Congress and statewide executive list and our
state legislature list to follow individual candidate results. For breaking news and to see what new milestones women achieve this year, follow
CAWP on Twitter, as well as
Gender Watch 2018. Members of the media can email CAWP's communications specialist
Daniel De Simone, or find him
on Twitter.
|
What We're Watching on November 6th
|
|
|
 |
|
(credit: CBS Sunday morning)
|
|
Why follow CAWP on election night? Here's what we're watching and what we'll keep you informed on. In an election year where women ran for and won nominations at record levels, will election results yield a record level representation for women in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Governor's offices, and state legislatures? How will non-incumbent women candidates, many who are running as challengers this year, fare on Election Day? How will electoral results and representation in 2019 differ for Democratic versus Republican women? How will women of color as candidates fare for Congress, statewide elected executive offices (including governor), and state legislatures?
What milestones will be marked by women on/after Election Day? Will Tennessee see its first woman senator in 2019? Will Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota elect their first women of color to the U.S Congress? Will the first Muslim and first Native American women be elected to serve in Congress this year? Will the nation have its first Democratic woman of color governor, as well as its first Black woman governor in 2019?
Where will women see gains or losses in representation, particularly in the U.S. Congress? Pennsylvania is the largest state in the country with an all-male congressional delegation. Does that change after November 6th? Will Iowa elect a woman (or women) to the U.S. House for the first time? Will states like Kansas and North Dakota keep women in their congressional delegations or send all-male congressional delegations to the Capitol in 2019?
These are just some of the numbers and milestones we'll be tracking on Tuesday. Join us.
|
These numbers don't count themselves.
Support our mission of research and education with a generous donation today.
|
Teach a Girl to Lead™ Comes to the Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation
|
|
|
|
Jean Sinzdak at the Ford Presidential Foundation |
Last week, CAWP was delighted to participate in a special professional development workshop at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation in honor of their year-long Betty Ford Centennial Celebration. The goal was to inform educators about Betty Ford's contributions to women's rights and leadership and equip them to develop leadership in the young people in their own lives and classrooms. The day-long professional development workshop From Suffragists to Senators: The Past, Present, and FUTURE of Women's Leadership focused on strategies and activities designed to make women leadership visible in the classroom and to develop leadership skills in their own students. CAWP Associate Director Jean Sinzdak presented a workshop on women's historical contributions to politics and government and walked participants through our
Teach a Girl to Lead™
tools and resources, and scholar Kelly Dittmar moderated a panel discussion of Michigan women officials.
|
RECAP: CAWP Scholars Present Book Talk on
A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen's Perspectives on Why Their Presence Matters
|
|
|
|
|
Carroll, Sanbonmatsu and Dittmar
|
|
Last night, CAWP scholars Kelly Dittmar, Kira Sanbonmatsu, and Susan J. Carroll presented findings from their new book
A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen's Perspectives on Why Their Presence Matters at the Eagleton Institute of Politics in New Brunswick, NJ. They highlighted the ways in which women in Congress change the policy priorities and processes of government, how having women in office helps more women enter office and function effectively, and the ways in which women and women of color officeholders inspire future leaders. They also
shared
anecdotes from the more than 80 congresswomen interviewed for the book. To watch the event, head over to our Facebook page for a full video. A Seat at the Table is on sale now.
|
|
NEW Leadership™ Director Christabel Cruz Appears on New Group Panel
|
|
|
|
Christabel Cruz, second from right, at the New Group panel (credit: The New Group) |
Christabel Cruz participated in a panel on Monday, October 22nd as part of the
New Group Now Discussion Series. The series, sponsored by The New Group theatre company, connects the events on-stage in their theatre productions to the larger context of present American and global culture. The panel,
The Future is Female, was linked to Shari White'snew play
The True, inspired by the political career and life of Dorothea "Polly" Noonan (played by Edie Falco), a defender of Albany's Democratic Party and avid supporter of long time mayor of Albany, Erastus Corning II. In the panel, Cruz discussed her thoughts on the political realities for women in the 2018 election and the historical roles that women have often played in the practice of politics in cities like Albany. She also promoted the work done at the Center for American Women and Politics and discussed her own academic research and work promoting college women's public leadership as Director of NEW Leadership™.
|
|
|
|
Just In
With a week to go before Election Day,
Fortune
magazine put together this fascinating oral history of the 1992 election, the last year dubbed in the media the "Year of the Woman", that delves into both the precipitating factors, the election itself, and what enduring impacts it did, and didn't, have.
CAWP has spoken regularly this year about the partisan imbalance in the number of women seeking office and winning primaries during the midterms, and as Election Day inches closer this lopsidedness continues to attract interest. For
Vox, Gender Watch 2018 contributor Rosalyn Cooperman and her colleague Melody Crowder-Meyer discuss their research into why the Republican Party is less favorable terrain for women candidates, from party cultures to how party elites view women candidates to the differing organizational and financial support available specifically for women running for office.
Reuters wrote about how the "pink wave" narrative this year is really a partisan story of a large spike of Democratic women seeking office while similar gains have been elusive for Republicans.
The Daily Beast spoke to CAWP Associate Director Jean Sinzdak about how this is playing out at the state legislative level, positing that women candidates may make the difference in flipping state houses from GOP to Democratic control throughout the country.
The Economist, meanwhile, also writes about the partisan divide among candidates-- noting that the number of Republican women in Congress next term may actually
decline
. Even in
the most optimistic predictions
for this year's elections, women will still only make up 25% of next term's Congress. As CAWP Director
Debbie Walsh has said
, "The reality is that for women to gain political parity, it cannot just happen on the back of one of the two parties. Both parties have to step up."
Vote Local
You know all about the high-water marks and record numbers and breakthroughs this year-let's take a look at the building blocks of this nationwide trend from races around the country. For
The Baltimore Sun, Christine Zhang turns CAWP data into infographics about how Maryland compares to the nationwide trend, showing that while Maryland is ahead of the average for women's representation in its state legislature, Maryland's federal delegation is currently all-male. In Alabama,
The Montgomery Advertiser talks about women's current underrepresentation in Alabama's state government and the record numbers of women running for office at all levels this year. Another story out of Alabama, from
Good Morning America, focuses on first-time candidates running against male incumbents for the state legislature and the support network they forged as they faced new challenges in running for office. Likewise, Daniela Altimari of
The Hartford Courant tells the story of candidates in Connecticut forming an informal network of encouragement, advice, and support as they run for state legislative offices.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, meanwhile, writes about the record number of women running in the nation and in Georgia in a discussion about continuing the trend by encouraging more women with leadership experience to see themselves as potential candidates and office-holders. John Austin, writing for
a consortium of local Texas papers, tells the story of Texas's own surge of women running for office and how that may remake the state legislature in November. In Illinois,
WSIU has a story about the state not really sharing in the surge of women candidacies this year, as women already run for and win office at generous rates. Great work, Illinois.
The nation abounds in stories like these in states around the country, but it isn't all good news.
The New York Times has a story about women challenging GOP incumbents for U.S. House races in New York State, noting also that women are challenging incumbents in large numbers around the country. Incumbency is one of the most powerful predictors of electoral success, so the number of women running against well-situated incumbents should be read as a note of caution for whether women's representation will increase after this election. Lastly, Aya Elamroussi, writing for
The Jersey Journal, takes a look at her county's local elected officials and finds that, even though women are finding more and more success in national politics, that doesn't always translate to greater representation in local politics: "In New Jersey's most densely-populated county, only 26 percent of elected officials in county and municipal government are female. None of the 12 mayors are women, while eight of nine freeholders are men."
That's a big story. The best way to stay informed on stories like this? Subscribe to your local newspaper.
|
|
|
Center for American Women and Politics
Eagleton Institute of Politics
Rutgers University | New Brunswick
191 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8557
(848) 932-9384 - Fax: (732) 932-6778
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
