Women and Politics

Yesterday’s primaries brought huge victories for women across the country—many who succeeded against great odds, such as Sen. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas and victim of egregious misogyny and racism, Nikki Haley, in South Carolina.

But the biggest headline we’re still seeing is how many of yesterday’s victorious women belong to the Republican party. Winning the GOP nomination last night were Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate in California, Meg Whitman for California Governor, and anti-establishment candidate Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate in Nevada.

Though some of these women don’t share WCF’s views on reproductive health choices, I am encouraged. This sudden deluge of victories has forced the country to stand up and take notice of women’s political power.

That said, I want to ask these candidates one question: If elected, what will you do to advance women’s rights?

Many of you prevailed in spite of the Political Establishment. Now, it is my great hope that you will use your hard-earned collective power to help us break up the Good Ol’ Boys’ Club and change the many existing harmful views against women.

It is my firm belief that we need more women in government—but it’s essential that they use their leadership to protect and empower all women in America.

That means working to turn the tide of the Establishment, which continually looks to restrict women’s freedoms across the board.

We all know how difficult it is for Republican women to defend reproductive health choices. The party’s vicious attacks against Dede Scozzafava last year were a prime example of this.

In fact, RNC member Bill Crocker said in January,

“No more Scozzafavas, please. No more Specters, please. No more Chafees, please.”

Well at WCF, we want many more Scozzafavas, please. At WCF, we constantly look for Republican candidates who do support health choices, work to provide a safe haven for those women, and find new ways to recruit pro-choice Republican women.

Moderate Republican Woman shouldn’t be a bad word. We want both parties to acknowledge that most Americans believe health choices should be left up to the individual, not the government or a politician.

So as the country lies in wait to see how many new GOP women will be elected this November, I challenge  these women to take a stand for their gender—not work against it.

This post was submitted by WCF Communications Fellow Ali Rozell

For the past two months, Nikki Haley, a South Carolina State Legislator and a Republican candidate for Governor, has faced an unacceptable onslaught of misogynist rhetoric and racial slurs.

Two men have come forward stating they had affairs with Haley.

The first man with accusations is Will Folks, a conservative blogger, who alleges that he engaged in a lengthy affair with Haley.  When Haley announced her candidacy for governor, Folks, who plead guilty to a criminal domestic violence charge in 2005, posted a video of a mock-interview with Haley, in which he threatens her with physical violence.

Folks then posted an entry on his blog alleging that he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley.  Following Folks’s post, the conservative blogosphere exploded with opinions on Haley’s supposed extramarital affairs.  Comments on these blogs quickly became sexist and derogatory, with writers calling Haley a “slut” and a “whore” multiple times.

RedState, a leading Republican blog, objectified Haley to a disgusting level when blogger Erick Ericson stated, in “defense” of Haley:

“This violates the very basic laws of nature: hot women do not have affairs with ugly guys unless those guys are rich.”

Ericson then went on to take it to a new low:

*Take home point for the moms in the audience: how likely is it that a hot woman would want to have an “inappropriate physical relationship” with this guy when, according to his timeline, she would have had very small children at the time and more likely than not wanted sleep above all other things?

If we were to rank the egregiousness of misogynistic comments, these would win first place.

Riding the wave of publicity that Folks gained after alleging an affair with Haley, Larry Merchant, a consultant for Haley’s opponent Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, went to the press with a story that he had a one night stand with Haley in 2008.  Merchant admitted he had no proof of the affair, yet the media again exploded with speculations on Haley’s sexual life.

It is as ridiculous as it is offensive that the media spent so much time commenting on and speculating about Haley’s sexual life—over a comment coming from a rival campaign.  Haley vehemently denied these claims, stating that she has been faithful to her husband throughout her marriage.

The firestorm surrounding Haley’s alleged sexual actions became so intense that instead of focusing on her political positions or efforts in the South Carolina Legislature, Haley began receiving questions about the purported affairs, derailing the election.

Instead of focusing on the issues important to voters, the election became focused on false and sexist allegations.

And just when you thought the ignorance couldn’t get any worse,  Jim Knotts, a State Senator in South Carolina, used a racist slur in reference to Haley:

“We’ve got a raghead in Washington, we don’t need a raghead in the Statehouse.”

Disgusting. Racism has no place anywhere in our country—let alone in politics.

Haley has been a public official in South Carolina for many years and has earned a strong reputation as an effective lawmaker. It’s appalling that her campaign was reduced to sexist and racial slurs.

The conflagration of accusations against Haley only served as evidence that women in politics face harsh forces when running for office.  Haley heads into a runoff against State Representative Gresham Barrett in two weeks. We will be watching her race closely to ensure the rest of her primary season is free from misogyny and racism.

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.