Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Sophie Shulman, WCF Communications Fellow

Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Americans turned out to vote in primaries in Virginia, South Dakota, South Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, Nevada, Montana, Maine, Iowa, and California. I’m proud to say that many of those votes were cast for women.

Across the country, capable women were brave enough to take the next step by running in local, statewide and federal races, not the least of which are WCF-Endorsed Candidates.

Just by choosing to stand up and talk about women’s issues, these extraordinary women have set an example for more women to follow in their footsteps.

While the headlines are focused on the major electoral gains for Republican women, here at WCF we’re also paying attention to other groundbreaking female candidates that won last night.

In California, intelligent and powerful women of color are challenging every boundary and reaching new levels of leadership. Speaker Karen Bass was the first African-American woman to be elected Speaker of a State Assembly, and is an excellent candidate to represent California’s 33rd district in the U.S. Congress. She, in turn, has endorsed Holly Mitchell to continue minority women’s representation in the State Assembly.

In 2003, Kamala Harris became the first African-American and South Asian woman to serve as San Francisco’s Attorney General, and she would be California’s first woman and first minority to be elected as Attorney General. While Harris still faces a tough race in November, these remarkable women make it clear that obstacles such as race and gender imbalance can be challenged, and overcome, by the right candidates.

There are many paths for women to effect change in this country. These women have worked in the private sector, at non-profits, and in various public positions, and all of them have consistently striven to promote progressive ideals and paved the way for more women in leadership positions.

Angie Buhl and Roxanne Conlin are excellent role models for how women can help promote women’s rights—Buhl’s longtime work as a proponent of women’s reproductive health choices will now be reflected in her work in the South Dakota Senate.

Conlin, as Iowa’s Assistant Attorney General, helped women by writing Iowa’s first rape victim protection law, and defended pregnant women’s rights in the state’s Supreme Court. After her victory last night, it is apparent to me that she will continue to shatter stereotypes and defend the values important to Iowans and women across the country.

Here’s the full list of WCF endorsed candidates’ primary results:

Win: Roxanne Conlin (IA) – US Senate - 78%

Win: Karen Bass (CA-33) – US Congress – 85.3%

Win: Beth Krom (CA-48) – US Congress – 100%

Win: Kamala Harris (CA) – State Attorney General – 33.2%

Win: Holly Mitchell (CA) – State Assembly (Dist. 47) – 43.7%

Win: Betty Yee (CA) – State Board of Equalization (Dist. 1) – 73.5%

Win: Angie Buhl (SD) – State Senate (Dist. 12) – 59.05%

Loss: Sara Lamnin (CA) – Hayward City Council – 19.79%

Loss: Yoriko Kishimoto (CA) – State Assembly (Dist. 21) – 28.3%

Regardless of who won and lost in the polls yesterday, WCF, and women everywhere, won. We won because there are women who are not afraid to stand up for other women, and will not give up their cause because they lost an election. WCF will be there to ask them to run to again, and I hope that you’ll do the same.

Tags: 2010 elections, 2010 primaries, angie buhl, beth krom, betty yee, gop women candidates, holly mitchell, june 8 primaries, june 8 primary, kamala harris, karen bass, republican women candidates, roxanne conline, sara lamnin, yoriko kishimoto