Women and Politics

My name is Sam, and I’m the new President/CEO of WCF. Having been a candidate myself, I hope to offer some insight and realism to the dialogue about women and politics in this country.

To start off, I’d like to tell you about my rude awakening as I was running for mayor of Allentown, PA. The first stump speech I ever delivered was interrupted by the Chair of a Men’s Democratic Club:

“Sam, I was lying in bed thinking about you and I wanted to ask you what every man in this room is wondering…just what are your measurements?”

This didn’t happen in the 1950’s - it was just nine years ago. Clearly, we have some way to go before politics is blind to gender. But more on that later.

I’ll be sharing more of my stories and blogging regularly to give you an inside look at WCF, our candidates, and the political landscape for women.

Today, I’d like to tell you about Jennifer Brunner - Ohio Secretary of State and candidate running for the U.S. Senate.

Brunner is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy 2008 Profiles in Courage award. She won the award for her successful reform of Ohio ’s troubled electoral systems, which were highly questioned in 2000 and 2004. This past election - under Brunner’s steady, intelligent hand - everything went smoothly.

Right now, lots of folks are trying to talk Brunner out of stepping down from Secretary of State. As a former party leader myself, I get it. Party leaders are nervous with reapportionment and redistricting right around the corner. They know Brunner could do a terrific job making sure that redistricting will be fair, equitable and non-partisan. But it begs the question: how often have high-performing women been kept in their place versus their male counterparts?

Brunner is exceptionally talented, and we need her in an even higher office where she can do great things for our country.

But to get there, Brunner needs money. She honestly acknowledges she needs to raise more, and we agree.

However, Brunner says that traditionally, she starts off slow, but builds revenue steadily quarter to quarter. We’ll see how she does, and support her campaign along the way. While Brunner recognizes that her opponent will likely raise more than her, both she and Roll Call point out that this won’t necessarily translate into him winning.

The Jennifer Brunner I met and have spent time with has a direct, unassuming, “just the facts ma’am” personality. We need her in U.S. Senate. We need her to rise.

Jennifer Brunner’s experience and outstanding tenure as Secretary of State will make her a better U.S. Senator - a Senator that will be good for Ohio and good for our country.

Continuing our Spotlight on Candidates series, I want to introduce you to Leslie Crocker Snyder - candidate for Manhattan District Attorney. With over 35 years of experience as a prosecutor, judge, and public servant, Judge Snyder has established herself as a bold and innovative leader in criminal justice reform.

A staunch advocate for women’s rights, during her nine years as an Assistant District Attorney, Judge Snyder founded the first Sex Crimes Prosecution Bureau and co-authored New York’s Rape Shield Law.  Most recently, she wrote an op-ed piece for the Huffington Post, using the Chris Brown and Rihanna case to highlight the need for law enforcement reform in domestic violence cases.

Judge Snyder is also a vocal supporter of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.  As District Attorney, she promises to address the concerns of the LGBT community, starting with the hiring of openly LGBT staff and assigning an active liaison to the LGBT community. Snyder writes in the New York Blade:

“It has been decades since the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has engaged the gay community in a meaningful way. It is the District Attorney’s job to ensure that every citizen is treated fairly. This means that the District Attorney must listen to every community.”

Following the announcement by current District Attorney Robert Morgenthau that he would not seek a 10th term in 2009, the race has shaped up to become what the New York Times calls the “first seriously contested district attorney’s race in Manhattan in more than 30 years.”  Judge Snyder first ran for this seat in 2005.  Though she garnered the endorsement of the heavily influential New York Times, she was unable to unseat the well entrenched incumbent, winning approximately 42% of the vote.

Now poised to make comeback, Snyder faces a competitive primary against two former prosecutors, Cyrus Vance Jr. and Richard Aborn.  Due to the heavily leaning Democratic composition of the borough, the winner of the September primary will likely also determine the general election outcome. Stay tuned for more about Leslie as her race continues to gain momentum.

WCF PAC endorsed candidate Jeanette Rishell has already jumped on the YouTube bandwagon. In her debut video, she gives us a glimpse of why she’s running and some of her priorities.

Jeanette talks about the importance of mutual responsibility accompanied by hard work. She sees Virginia as having the opportunity to become a leader and hopes to focus on improving things like transportation and education to create job growth.

Jeanette is running for Virginia’s House of Delegates in good ol’ Northern VA’s 50th District, which includes the City of Manassas and several areas of Prince William County (I’m there quite often visiting friends - so NOVA and this district hold a special place in my heart).

She’s been a NOVA resident for over 30 years, and hopes to help strengthen her area:

“Virginia faces financial hardships and the General Assembly’s commitment to education, public safety and healthcare is wavering. Now more than ever Virginia must re-focus on core services; I will lead the fight to strengthen our families, communities and Commonwealth.”

We look forward to an exciting race with Jeanette this year - and maybe I’ll stop by and say hi when I’m visitng my peeps in Manassas. (I hope she likes chocolate labs and husky puppies).

According to ProgressOhio, candidate Jennifer Brunner’s campaign for U.S. Senate is off and running. ProgressOhio points out the significance of her funds mostly coming from individual donors:

This is important because, like President Obama’s early primary donors, Brunner’s first-quarter contributors can be expected to continue their support throughout the campaign.

ProgressOhio also gives us a fun fact about Brunner:

After serving as Ohio’s Secretary of State for just over a year, she was awarded the Profile in Courage Award by the bipartisan board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for fighting for needed election reforms related to voting machine reliability and security. The Profile in Courage Award is considered the nation’s most prestigious honor for elected public servants.

WCF PAC endorsed Brunner a couple weeks ago, and we look forward to learning more about her and supporting her throughout her campaign.

Much thanks to Anthony Fossaceca of Ohio Daily for their fabulous coverage of WCF’s endorsement of Jennifer Brunner.

Fossaceca calls WCF ‘one of the top women’s groups in the country’ and says our staff is ‘highly talented’ (muchas gracias, sir…we’re small but mighty).

“The fact that they are making this endorsement so soon is important and adds another layer of concrete to Brunner’s foundation.”

We’re all excited to follow WCF’s new batch of endorsed candidates as the elections approach. Keep checking back for more spotlights on WCF’s endorsed women currently in office and those running in 2009 and 2010.