July 9, 2024

We are delighted to announce that CAWP has received a grant from the Crimsonbridge Foundation aimed at strengthening our work to empower and educate the next generation of women public leaders. As part of Crimsonbridge's Women and Girls' Leadership and Civic Engagement program, 15 organizations, including CAWP, have received funding to foster civic participation, increase representation, and empower women and girls nationwide.

The Crimsonbridge Foundation’s gift to CAWP will support a strategic summit for our NEW Leadership® National Network partners, funders, political strategists, and other experts in the women and politics field. Despite the success of NEW Leadership® since its inception in 1991, it faces new challenges, including political efforts threatening women's leadership programs on college campuses. As women's representation in elected office lags and young voices are missing from policymaking tables, the urgent imperative to bolster and expand NEW Leadership® becomes clear. The summit will help innovate the program, strengthen partnerships, and mobilize advocacy efforts to secure the future of women's leadership in American politics.

Gabriela Smith, founder and executive chair of the Crimsonbridge Foundation, emphasized the importance of this support: “We recognize the gravity, urgency, and pressure of working to build an inclusive and equitable future for women and girls across the country.”

“NEW Leadership® is vital for empowering the next generation of women leaders and bridging the persistent gender gap in political ambition,” CAWP Associate Director Jean Sinzdak said. “At a time when women's leadership programs face unprecedented challenges, it is more important than ever to support initiatives like NEW Leadership® that are dedicated to creating a more inclusive and equitable democracy. We could not be more grateful to the Crimsonbridge Foundation for their support and their commitment to this work.”

Our NEW Leadership® partners have hosted programs from coast to coast this summer. We are pleased to share highlights from two of them: 

NEW Leadership® Pennsylvania, a six-day residential program held annually at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, equips college students with the skills to become effective leaders in politics and public service. Thirty-four students from 22 colleges across Pennsylvania participated from June 2-7, 2024. Highlights included a keynote speech by Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and workshops on public speaking, advocacy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The program culminated with a visit to the state Capitol in Harrisburg, where students engaged with state legislators and participated in a live news conference on the CROWN Act.

NEW Leadership® Northern California held its inaugural summer institute at St. Mary’s College of California from June 21-28, 2024. Hosted by the Women's and Gender Studies program at Saint Mary's, the week-long event brought together twenty students from community colleges and universities across the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants engaged in hands-on workshops, met with California elected officials, and visited the state Capitol in Sacramento. The students heard from elected officials including Richmond City Council Member Claudia Jimenez and state Senator Melissa Hurtado as well. Congratulations to the NEW Leadership® team in California for a successful first institute! 

New Blog on Republican Women Incumbents

In CAWP’s latest blog, "2024 State Legislative Primaries are Presenting Hurdles to Republican Women Incumbents," our director of research, Kelly Dittmar, analyzes the challenges faced by Republican women incumbents in state legislative primaries. Dittmar highlights recent incumbent losses in South Carolina state Senate primary elections – the state will likely have zero Republican women in its state Senate after the 2024 elections – as part of a broader discussion about women incumbent state legislative candidates that reveals higher primary defeat rates for Republican women incumbents compared to their Democratic counterparts. For more insights on how incumbent Republican women state legislators are faring in other states, read the full blog here.

Primaries this Summer: Key Wins and Races to Watch

CAWP’s Election Watch tracked the June 25th primary elections in Colorado, New York, and Utah and showed significant results for women candidates. In Colorado, all four incumbent women in the U.S. House are set for re-election, with one contest considered a toss-up. New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand is strongly favored for U.S. Senate re-election, and three all-woman general election contests will occur in the U.S. House. In Utah, November’s ballots will feature all-women contests for auditor and lieutenant governor, all but assuring that the state will elect its first woman auditor.

Looking ahead on our Election Watch calendar, New Jersey will hold a special election on July 16th to determine who will succeed the late Donald Payne, Jr. in the U.S. House, with the Democratic primary winner expected to secure the seat. Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver is widely viewed as a frontrunner in this contest. Curious to see what happens? Keep updated via our Election Watch series here.