Women move into political leadership
Female state lawmakers are moving into leadership roles in unprecedented numbers, overseeing their legislatures' daily business, shaping states' political agendas and, advocates say, laying the groundwork to get more women elected.
This year, 58 women lawmakers were chosen as legislative leaders — senate presidents, house speakers, presidents pro tem — a 20 percent gain over last year's 48 and more than double the female leaders in 2000, according to a count by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
At just 17 percent of all state legislative leaders, that's still barely one out of six, and far from reflecting the general population; women make up slightly more than half of all Americans.
Still, the gains come at a pivotal moment for female politicians, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running for president and Nancy Pelosi the first female speaker of the U.S. House.
Having female legislative leaders will influence the public and fellow lawmakers, they hope, changing attitudes so more women seek public office and more voters choose to support them.
"If you're not at the table, you don't get heard," said Massachusetts Sen. Therese Murray, a Democrat who made history in March when she was chosen by fellow lawmakers to serve as Senate president — the first woman in her state ever to do so. She holds one of the three most powerful positions in state government.
Women legislative leaders numbered only four in the nearly all-male political world of the late 1970s. That figure rose in the 1990s to between 20 and 28 — still 8 percent or less of all legislative leaders.But after 2000, the numbers began to climb: to 30 in 2001; 42 in 2003; 48 in 2006, and now 58.Credit goes to the women who broke ground and paid their dues, winning chairmanships and building coalitions, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at New Jersey's Rutgers University. "Part of it is they've been in there and they've earned their spots," she said.But that's only part of the equation, she and others say."It isn't just about individuals," said Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project, a nonprofit group that aims to encourage women to lead in business and politics. "There has been a change in the country and the culture. The culture matters. ... You start to see women as leaders. You get comfortable with women, whether you like their policies or not."Women still have a long way to go to achieve parity.They still make up only 16.3 percent of Congress overall. And Clinton's is the first high-profile female candidacy aiming for the top of the ticket since Geraldine Ferraro served as Walter Mondale's vice presidential running mate in 1984. The Democrats lost to President Reagan and George H.W. Bush.In state legislatures, women made big gains from the 1970s, when they were an anomaly, through the late 1990s, when growth plateaued at between 20 percent and 22 percent of statehouses. That sparked a nationwide effort to help encourage and train women to give politics a try.
The 2006 election saw the number edge up slightly — now women make up 23.5 percent of state lawmakers. Leadership in state capitals, however, has undergone much more significant changes, especially this decade.Taking on such responsibilities helps erase the outdated, misguided perception that there are "women's issues," said Kentucky Senate President Pro Tem Katie Stine, a Republican. She not only wields the gavel, but oversees debate and decides what gets heard and when."I didn't get the impression that my gender was even an issue" when she was elected, Stine said. "When you're in the forest you don't notice the trees."
