Campaign aims to get more women into politics

Congresswomen Kathy Hochul, left, and Louise Slaughter

Congress in 10 years.
Members of the campaign, called Political Parity, say they were inspired to join because the number of women elected to Congress fell in 2010 for the first time after three decades of continual progress.
That led the advocacy groups to try something different, according to Siobhan Bennett, president and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund and the She Should Run program.
“Einstein once said that the definition of insanity was doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results,” said Bennett, whose organization backs women candidates of both major parties who support abortion rights. “Working alone, nibbling at little corners of the massive societal problem of women’s political under-representation, never has and never will solve this problem.”
Founders of Political Parity said neither major political party has done enough to field women as candidates, so the campaign is working with women’s groups to address the issue.
“This is a groundbreaking approach,” said Kerry Healy, the Republican co-chairwoman of Political Parity and former lieutenant governor in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney.
Swanee Hunt, Political Parity’s Democratic co-chairwoman, has pledged to donate $750,000 annually to support the 10-year campaign through the Massachusetts-based Hunt Alternatives Fund, a private foundation she heads that’s dedicated to social change.
Political Parity won’t endorse candidates, but the participating leaders predicted their women’s organizations will make endorsements and donate to campaigns.
They include Emily’s List, which backs Democrats who support abortion rights, and Republican Majority for Choice, which backs pro-choice Republicans.
…
This year, 33 Senate seats are in play.
So far, 13 Republican women and 19 Democratic women have declared their candidacy for the Senate or have indicated they will announce, according to the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.
In the House, all 435 seats are up for election. So far, 238 women — 153 Democrats and 85 Republicans — have indicated they will run. That’s a significant increase over the same time two years ago, when only 186 women had declared their candidacy.
The most recent entrants include Ithaca lawyer Leslie Danks, who is seeking the Democratic line for the 22nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Hinchey, and Anne Jacobs Moultrie, a registered nurse and union leader from Woodbury, who is one of five Democrats vying to run against Hayworth in the Hudson Valley’s 19th Congressional District.
But among the 11 states with governor’s races, only two women — including incumbent Democrat Beverly Perdue of North Carolina — are candidates.
Walsh from the Rutgers Center said the early numbers of women running in congressional races are ahead of 2010. But the candidate filing deadlines have passed in only four states, she noted.
“The early signs are that 2012 has potential,” Walsh said.
This year, 33 Senate seats are in play.
So far, 13 Republican women and 19 Democratic women have declared their candidacy for the Senate or have indicated they will announce, according to the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.
In the House, all 435 seats are up for election. So far, 238 women — 153 Democrats and 85 Republicans — have indicated they will run. That’s a significant increase over the same time two years ago, when only 186 women had declared their candidacy.
The most recent entrants include Ithaca lawyer Leslie Danks, who is seeking the Democratic line for the 22nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Hinchey, and Anne Jacobs Moultrie, a registered nurse and union leader from Woodbury, who is one of five Democrats vying to run against Hayworth in the Hudson Valley’s 19th Congressional District.
But among the 11 states with governor’s races, only two women — including incumbent Democrat Beverly Perdue of North Carolina — are candidates.
Walsh from the Rutgers Center said the early numbers of women running in congressional races are ahead of 2010. But the candidate filing deadlines have passed in only four states, she noted.
“The early signs are that 2012 has potential,” Walsh said.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120224/NEWS01/302240015/Kathy-Hochul-Ann-Marie-Buerkle-Congress-women

By the numbers

17
Percent of congressional lawmakers who are women
33
Senate seats up for election this year
32
Women who have indicated they will run
435
House seats up for election
238
Women who have indicated they will run
11
States with governor’s races this year
2
Women who have indicated they will run

SOURCE: Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.