How Women Are Breaking Into the ‘Boy’s Club’ of Politics
I am back in the Bay Area this week meeting with other supporters of proportional voting to discuss strategies to modernize U.S. House elections with ranked-choice voting in districts that elect three or more people. This systems change—which The New York Times editorial page supports—would simultaneously eliminate gerrymandering, ensure partisan fairness, elect multiple communities of color from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and increase women’s representation in the House by at least 40 percent in the first few election cycles after adoption.
RepresentWomen is glad to convene a women’s thought leader table, in partnership with FairVote, to build support for proportional voting among women leaders.
The team pitched in again this week to share stories about outcomes for women in recent elections and policies that impact women’s political representation.
RepresentWomen’s digital media manager, Kaycie Goral, writes about this week’s primary in Oregon that yielded a first—three women vying for governor:
For the first time in the state’s history, three women candidates will run in Oregon’s 2022 governor race.
Oregonians will vote in a three-way race dominated by women candidates; former House Speaker Tina Kotek, former House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, and the well-funded unaffiliated candidate, long-time Democratic lawmaker Betsy Johnson.
Kotek, the longest-serving speaker of the Oregon House, won the Democratic nomination with 55%. Drazan, leading in a very crowded primary, won with just 24%, which, if it holds up, would be the lowest share of the Republican vote for a governor nominee in Oregon history going back at least 75 years.
Only Two of Oregon’s 38 governors have been women: Barbara Roberts (1991-1995), and current governor Kate Brown, who took office in 2015.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, just 45 women have been governors of their states or territories. The record number of women serving simultaneously is nine.