The recent series of sex scandals involving male politicians has generated lots of discussion in the media about the need for more women in elected office. Would women be less likely than men to behave badly? It’s hard to say but also irrelevant. What the media failed to point out is that we need more women. Not because they might subject the public to fewer headlines regarding extramarital affairs, but because women are dramatically underrepresented in public office.
Looking at the make-up of the 112th Congress, the numbers are staggeringly bad. Although 51 percent of the U.S. population is female, women hold 89, or 16.5 percent of the 535 seats — 17, or 17.0 percent, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 72, or 16.5 percent, of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. That puts the US at 69th in the world for gender parity, according to the Inter Parliamentary Union.
The problem, however, is not that women aren’t winning elections, it’s that they aren’t running for office. This is why political strategist Mary Hughes created The 2012 Project, a campaign of Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics. It’s a nonpartisan, national campaign to recruit record numbers of women to run for Congress and state legislatures in 2012. The 2012 Project functions as a matchmaker. “We inspire women to step forward, and connect them with fundraising networks, training programs and think tanks in their states. We identify them, and then we entrust them to folks with relevant expertise,” says Hughes.
The last time there was a significant increase of women in the Congress was in 1992, when 24 new women were elected to the House. But 1992 wasn’t an accident. It was the combined result of a favorable climate partially created by the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings as well as a coordinated effort to reach out to potential candidates.
Similar to 1992, the election of 2012 presents a once-in-a-decade opportunity for women to increase their numbers in office. Following the 2010 census, every congressional and state legislative district in the country is being redrawn. Reapportionment creates opportunity, and research shows that women have more success winning open seats. Of the 24 women who were elected in 1992, 22 ran for open seats.
While it’s all fine and good to hear pundits call for the need for more women in office, they won’t win if they don’t run. Hughes believes the media’s call for more women should be taken as a compliment. “It means there is a general recognition that women in public office take their jobs seriously,” she says. The opportunity of the 2012 election should be taken equally seriously if we want to see gender parity in government. 2022 is too long to wait.
The 2012 Project is a national, non-partisan campaign to increase the number of women in Congress and state legislatures by taking advantage of the once-in-a-decade opportunities of 2012.
More resources for women interested in elected office:
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