A recent Stanford-University of Chicago study showed that women in Congress sponsor and cosponsor more legislation than their male colleagues do. They bring more federal resources and assistance back to their districts and get more cosponsors for their bill. So why do women hold only 16 percent of the seats in Congress? And why are just a paltry 12 percent of U.S. governors female? I found out during my recent interview with political strategist Mary Hughes, founder of the 2012 Project, a campaign that encourages women over 45 to run for political office. Here's a quick tease. (To read the the full interview, click through to page 15.)
In 2008 it seemed for a brief, heady moment that women were asserting their rightful place in national politics: Hillary Clinton ran for president, and Sarah Palin for vice president. But neither were elected, and the 2010 mid-term elections proved a major setback for women in politics. For the first time since 1978, female representation in Congress actually declined. Today, women hold just 16% of seats in Congress. Only 12% of governors are women and 23% of state legislators are women.
Hoping to reverse these depressing statistics, political strategist Mary Staton Hughes founded the 2012 Project, a nonpartisan national campaign to identify and engage accomplished women over 45 to run for political office. The Project, part of Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, targets accomplished women from fields that are underrepresented in government such as science and technology, finance, health, and energy/environment. The timing of the project is intentional. It comes on the heels of this year’s Congressional reapportionment, the redrawing of state and congressional districts to reflect population shifts. This creates new open seats—and a once-a-decade opportunity for women who are new to politics. (Research shows that new seats are easier for political newcomers—male or female—to win than those held by incumbents.)
“I want to engage women who are pioneers in their fields, who have already broken some glass ceilings. These women have expertise that’s in short supply in many state legislatures,” says Hughes, who was an American studies major at Mount Holyoke College.
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