by Jillia\u00a0Pessenda*<\/p>\n
Across the country women are running for office in record numbers.<\/a><\/u> At Women Winning, a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to electing pro-choice women from all political parties to all levels of public office, we see this unprecedented national trend reflected in our work across the state. At a time when we are confronting the omnipresent misogyny of Donald Trump and his administration, women are tackling adversity by stepping up to run for office. And we must; according to the Center for American Women and Politics<\/a> at Rutgers University<\/a><\/u>, only 107 women hold seats in the United States Congress, comprising just 20% of the 535 members. If we ever hope to gain equal representation, let alone a majority, as (white) men have had for over 240 years, we need this to be the new normal; we need women to continue to run in record numbers for years to come.<\/p>\n In 2018, women\u2019s access to reproductive healthcare is on the line, reversing Roe<\/em> is a real threat with the looming nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and decisions about women\u2019s healthcare and access continue to be weighed and determined by men. Women make up 50% of the voters in this country but have yet to achieve equal representation in state legislatures, executive offices and in Congress. Women are running for office because they understand that we must have power to craft laws and make policy decisions that directly impact our lives, our families and our communities. But what is it going to take\u2014not only for women to continue to run\u2014but to win in 2018 and beyond?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Continued Momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n The surge of progressive women running for office is in part a reaction to Trump\u2019s election and the campaign that led up to it, but has also been fueled by the dangerous policies, changes and threats that come with the Trump Presidency. The President\u2019s blatant disrespect for women has turned into dangerous policies. Even before the announcement of Justice Kennedy\u2019s retirement and the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, there\u2019s been a marked increase in anti-choice legislation<\/a><\/u> and threats to Roe v. Wade<\/em>. In Mississippi, Governor Phil Bryant signed a law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy\u2014the most restrictive abortion law in the country.\u00a0 Earlier this year, ThinkProgress<\/a><\/u> reported that, \u201cThe Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 Office on Women\u2019s Health removed a webpage dedicated to breast cancer and other helpful reproductive health information, including important insurance information for low-income people.\u201d Healthcare access and reproductive freedom are frequently cited motivators for women running for office in 2018; taken together, the administration\u2019s attacks on women have mobilized women to take action.<\/p>\n The resurgence of visible feminist activism\u2014highlighted by the Women\u2019s March and the #MeToo movement\u2014is also inspiring women to run. Just as importantly, seeing women win has convinced others they can do the same. I\u2019ve talked to dozens of candidates this year in Minnesota and across the country who were inspired to run by the historic campaigns of women like Rep. Ilhan Omar\u2014the first Somali-American Muslim state legislator in the country who won her election in Minnesota the same night that Trump was elected. These success stories give women, especially from marginalized communities, hope that it is possible to run and win. In 2017 we also witnessed the historic elections of transgender women including Danica Roem in Virginia and Andrea Jenkins in Minnesota\u2014the first black trans woman elected to a major city council in the country. And just this summer, we saw historic congressional primary wins for women of color including Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez in New York, Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota who will usher in a new wave of leadership to Congress. In Minnesota\u2019s second Congressional District Angie Craig is running for a second time against incumbent Jason Lewis who narrowly won in 2016 and has a long history of making misogynistic statements in a district where suburban women could determine the outcome of this election. In 2016, Angie lost to Lewis by less than 2 percentage points; it was one of the closest congressional races in the country and will be a critical seat for Democrats to win in November. In order for women to win, often they need to run more than once. For this surge of pro-choice women\u2019s candidacies to endure and be successful, we must continue to lift up powerful narratives of victory and perseverance and invest our time and resources in their candidacies.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Shatter The Myth That Women Aren\u2019t Electable at the Executive Level.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Since Hillary Clinton lost her Presidential bid in 2016, I\u2019ve heard many people who self-identify as liberals or progressives (many of them women) who express or comment that women aren\u2019t as \u201celectable\u201d as men at the executive level. It\u2019s important to remember that Clinton actually won the popular vote by over 2.8 million votes. In Minnesota we saw this \u201celectability\u201d conversation play out in the recent democratic primary for Governor. In 160 years of statehood, Minnesota has yet to elect a woman to the highest executive office in our State. In fact, there are only six states in the country currently with women Governors (2 Democrats and 4 Republicans<\/a>). As I campaigned this summer for the Women Winning-endorsed candidate for Governor, Erin Murphy, the comment I received more than any other was, \u201cI really like her, but I\u2019m worried she\u2019s not \u2018electable\u2019 in the general election against the Republican male candidate.\u201d Many expressed to me this concern and their feeling that the male Democratic candidate was a safer bet. Murphy, a State Representative and former House Majority Leader, was arguably the most qualified candidate for the job having over a decade of experience passing policy at the state level, experience balancing the state\u2019s budget and she campaigned on a policy platform that included single payer universal healthcare. Yet the question or comment I received most often wasn\u2019t about her policy platform or her vision for the state\u2014it was their fear around \u201celectability.\u201d Murphy ultimately lost the Democratic primary to her male opponent proving that our state, like most others, still has work to do in confronting our gender biases if we are going to elect a woman to the highest level of executive office in our state.<\/p>\n The fact is, when women run for office, they win at the same rates as men; electability isn\u2019t the issue. As feminists, liberals and progressives, we must confront our own internalized sexism when deciding which candidates to support. Shattering the myth and misconception that women aren\u2019t electable at the executive level starts with us confronting our own biases and then showing up to support the pro-choice women running with our time, our money, and our vote.<\/p>\n We also can\u2019t ignore the role the media plays in perpetuating sexism in its coverage of female politicians and influencing voters, A recent study illuminated in an article published by the Columbia Journalism Review<\/a> found that \u201csubtle sexism\u201d in political coverage can have a real impact on voters perception of female candidates. Although more research is needed, the study found that, \u201cA woman politician described with masculine-coded adjectives was seen as almost 10 percent more qualified and 7 percent more competent than a woman described with feminine adjectives.\u201d<\/p>\n