Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Rebecca Freedholm, WCF Communications Fellow

It was a long night in Minnesota. The Democratic primary results for Governor remained neck-and-neck between MN State House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Mark Dayton until early this afternoon.

While Kelliher did hold a significant lead throughout early returns, Dayton ultimately pulled ahead and received 41.30% of the vote compared to Kelliher’s 39.79%.

While Kelliher’s loss is disappointing, one thing is absolutely clear: Kelliher has tenaciously run an incredible campaign. Kelliher came into the race with a huge financial disadvantage—both of her opponents self-funded their campaigns with vast independent wealth. Dayton is an heir to the Target chain fortune, and undoubtedly benefitted from his “high-name recognition and financial advantage.”

Yet despite her disadvantage entering the race, Kelliher inspired a large coalition of supporters who functioned as a major driving force behind her campaign. She also won the support of David Wellstone and both of Minnesota’s Democratic senators—Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.

Despite being down in the polls, Kelliher continued to build momentum through a vibrant grassroots campaign. During the final debate on Sunday, she was the only candidate to have supporters show up en masse as she gave a supreme performance that inevitably outshined her opponents’.

I salute Kelliher and her performance in this race; she has demonstrated unwavering courage and strength and ultimately proved herself to be an exceptional leader.

I hope that Kelliher will run for higher office again and continue to advance women’s political participation in her state. Not only has Minnesota never elected a female governor, but a woman has never even received a major party nomination for governor in the state.

Women are vastly underrepresented at all levels of public office, and they are most dramatically underrepresented at the gubernatorial level. Currently, only 6 out of 50 states have a female governor.

Kelliher reminds me of another strong-willed female candidate we saw recently: Secretary Jennifer Brunner, who proved to be “one of those tenaciously tough women who didn’t give up” in spite of the challenges placed against her. While not all women face funding disadvantages, it does seem that female candidates often rise to the occasion when facing difficult campaign hurdles.

What do you think? Are women intrinsically better at being grassroots candidates? Do they have the tendency to be more tenacious in their campaigns when facing obstacles?

This post was submitted by Rebecca Freedholm, WCF Communications Fellow

As the primary election for Governor of Minnesota quickly approaches, this once “buzzless” race is finally heating up. Margaret Anderson Kelliher’s vivacious campaign is largely responsible for this recent surge of momentum.

During Sunday’s final DFL gubernatorial primary debate, Kelliher’s supporters swarmed the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul and remained fully energized as they waited outside for the entirety of the debate. Inside the theater, Kelliher was evidently motivated by her supporter turnout and spoke passionately and adroitly throughout the debate. Although her opponents did well, Kelliher emerged as the obvious victor.

Sunday’s debate was only one example of the enthusiasm that Kelliher’s campaign has been building. While her opponents have been channeling their campaign money into television advertisements, Kelliher has been focusing on a grassroots initiative. This approach has been widely successful and has continued its impetus through these last days leading to the primary:

“The enthusiasm and momentum behind Kelliher’s campaign is peaking at exactly the right time. All week, thousands of volunteers have been on the phones and knocking on doors. It’s part of an unprecedented statewide grassroots Get Out The Vote effort. In just one week, Kelliher supporters are making more than 295,000 phone calls and knocking on over 30,000 doors.”

There should be no question as to why volunteers have devoted so much of their time and effort to Kelliher’s bid for Governor; Kelliher has been a strong, dedicated leader for Minnesota for over a decade. Ever since she was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1998, she has been successfully working to improve the lives of Minnesotans. As Minority Leader in 2006, Kelliher directed the campaign operation that led to the largest legislative gains in decades for the DFL House Caucus.

After that impressive accomplishment, Kelliher was elected Speaker of the House by her colleagues. In her role as Speaker she has continued to build a remarkable record of achievements for Minnesota:

“During her tenure as Speaker, Margaret guided the passage of a nation-leading renewable energy standard…Over the course of the past three legislative sessions – all of which ended on time – Margaret oversaw an agenda that provided health care coverage for 40,000 uninsured children, provided for property tax relief for Minnesota families, and fulfilled a commitment to increase school funding. In the face of historic economic challenges, Margaret created a Jobs Task Force, recognizing the need to invest in job creation and training skilled workers for the new economy.”

Kelliher is a proven leader who shows exceptional strength and poise; even the Minneapolis Star Tribune has characterized her as the “calm inside the storm.” She believes that this is the most important gubernatorial election in a generation, and she is confident that she can win with the help of her supporters. For many years, Kelliher has demonstrated her commitment to serving the people of Minnesota, and now the people of Minnesota are confirming their dedication to Kelliher.

“From the beginning, this has been a people-powered campaign. I am proud to have the support of so many DFLers who, like me, believe our best days are yet to come. Together we will win this election and get Minnesota back to work.”

Along with many Minnesotans, WCF supports Margaret Anderson Kelliher in her endeavor to become Governor of Minnesota. We believe that Kelliher is an eminently qualified candidate and an extraordinary leader, and we encourage Minnesotans to continue to prove their support for her in the primary tomorrow, August 10th.

Crossposted from the Newark Advocate, by Jeremy Cannon

On May 4, Ohioans have a chance to turn the page.

The 2010 Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate pits Lee Fisher against Jennifer Brunner. Fisher has been a staple in Ohio politics since the early 1980s. He’s probably most famous for his five-point loss in the gubernatorial race of 1992.

With Brunner, we have found a politician of tomorrow, today: a smart, capable progressive who has run a grassroots campaign that has touched many people and excited voters, while Fisher runs a top-down campaign aimed at the party elite.

Jennifer Brunner has taken strong stances on issues important to Democratic voters. Brunner came out on a wide array of issues with particular force and finesse: the wars, trade, an urban agenda, health care, clean energy, gay rights, education, Social Security, health care, veterans, worker’s rights and more.

Brunner is capable of exciting independents, moderates and liberals, while Fisher has not shown the ability to impress anyone but the Democratic Party elite. Brunner breaks with her party on issues of importance to all of us, and I am positive she would do so if we gave her the chance as a member of the U.S. Senate.

Vote Jennifer Brunner and help turn the page on May 4. Help select a candidate who will be our candidate and not the candidate of the Democratic Party elite.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF communications fellow

Take 10 men—3 democrats and 7 republicans—all vying to be the next Governor of Connecticut. Now add to this mix a powerful woman who has broken the glass ceiling left and right in the political world. Enter Mary Glassman, Treasurer of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) and Treasurer of the Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM)—ready to use her wealth of experience as Governor.

Glassman is sure to give the old boys’ club a run for their money.

And money is one of the many things that sets Glassman apart from her opponents. Shortly after she decided to enter the race, Glassman announced that she will be abiding by the stringent campaign finance laws made by the Connecticut Citizen’s Election Program. Candidates who choose to follow this law are unable to accept contributions from lobbyists, state contractors, and even family members—thereby completely eliminating special interests from the race.

But even by following the country’s strictest campaign finance law, Glassman was able to report an extremely strong start to her candidacy—raising more money in the first 3 months of her campaign than any of her challengers.

So how did she accomplish this without funds from special interests? Grassroots support. Sound familiar? Who knew going out in the public, shaking hands with supporters and speaking to them about important issues could actually help a campaign? Like Jennifer Brunner, Glassman is showing that taking a grassroots approach could be a winning strategy.

Glassman has a strong history of winning elections by utilizing grassroots support. In 2006, she won the fight in becoming the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. In addition, she was the first Democratic leader in more than 40 years elected to be the First Selectman of Republican-leaning town Simsbury, and served in this position for six consecutive terms. As First Selectman, Glassman utilized her background as a journalist and attorney for job creation, spending reduction, and naming the town of Simsbury among the top 100 Places to Live in America.

Learn more about Glassman and her stance on issues here.

In an election year that is already proving to be a battlefield for female candidates, Mary Glassman doesn’t seem to be backing down one bit. Will Glassman’s grassroots campaign trump special interest money?