WOMEN WINNING IN THE NEWS
Your source for the latest news on womenwinning endorsed candidates & elected officials and the state of women in public office.
womenwinning scores win in Minnesota special election
ElectWomen Magazine
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Saint Paul, Minn. - April 12, 2011 - womenwinning - whose mission is to encourage, promote and support pro-choice women's leadership in all political parties and levels of public office - congratulates Mary Jo McGuire on her win in the special election for Senate in District 66 which includes Falcon Heights and part of Saint Paul.
"I would not have won this campaign without the early and strong support of womenwinning," said Mary Jo McGuire. | Read more
Are women in politics making two steps forward, one step back?
by Ruth Marcus
The Washington Post
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
At fancy Washington dinner parties decades ago, it was the custom for men and women to part ways after the meal. The men stayed at the table for brandy, cigars and Serious Talk; the women, as Katharine Graham recounted in her autobiography, retreated "to powder their noses and gossip."
Mrs. Graham, mercifully, put a stop to that fusty custom. Last weekend, though, I was at a Washington dinner - the old-friends kind, not the fancy variety - and the genders split on their own accord. | Read more
The Siege of Planned Parenthood
by Gail Collins
The New York Times
Friday, February 4, 2011
As if we didn't have enough wars, the House of Representatives has declared one against Planned Parenthood.
Maybe it's all part of a grand theme. Last month, they voted to repeal the health care law. This month, they're going after an organization that provides millions of women with both family-planning services and basic health medical care, like pap smears and screening for diabetes, breast cancer, cervical cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. | Read more
Women still under-represented in Minnesota mayor's offices, city councils
Associated Press
StarTribune.com
Sunday, January 30, 2011
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The number of women elected to local government posts in Minnesota has leveled off, after reaching an all-time high in 2002.
The St. Cloud Times reported Sunday that there are fewer than 130 female mayors out of 854 mayoralties in Minnesota, or not quite 15 percent. | Read more
Why female politicians are more effective
by Tony Dokoupil
Newsweek.com
Saturday, January 22, 2011
According to a forthcoming study in the American Journal of Political Science, women are the most effective lawmakers in the land.
Some dubbed it "The Year of the Woman." But despite "mama grizzly" talk and a crop of high-profile female candidates, last year's elections resulted in no net additions to the female ranks of the Senate and, for the first time since 1978, a net loss in the House. In fact, more than 90 years after the first woman was elected to Congress, female politicians still hold less than a fifth of all national seats, and do only slightly better at the state level. But that's more than just a blow for diversity and equality, according to a forthcoming study in the American Journal of Political Science—because women also rank as the most effective lawmakers in the land. | Read more
What the Loss of Women Legislators Means to Minnesota
www.mn2020.org
December 30, 2010
By Sarah Taylor Nanista, Guest Commentary
The112th Congress and new Minnesota legislative session will start with women holding less political power in Washington and in statehouses across the country.
For the first time since 1987, the number of women in Congress decreased; the first female House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, instead leads the minority party, having lost her power to set the policy and legislative agenda; and three powerful Democratic women committee chairs were forced to hand over their gavels in the minority. | Read More
Few women's voices on state's county boards
www.twincities.com
December 6, 2010
By Maricella Miranda
In Wright County, Minn., Rose Thelen is the only female county commissioner.
Thelen, 61, began serving on the five-member board a year ago after replacing another female commissioner who didn't run for re-election. The east-central Minnesota county has never had more than one woman serving on its board at a time.
"Let's say we're a minority in voice," Thelen said.
Next year, women will represent 12 percent of county commissioners in Minnesota, according to the state Legislature's Office on the Economic Status of Women. It's about a 1 percent increase from this year, but it's a 3 percent decrease from 1998. | Read More
Despite new female faces in Congress, numbers in decline
www.cnn.com
November 10, 2010
By Dana Bash
Washington (CNN) -- Ask Republican Rep.-elect Nan Hayworth how important it is to have women in congressional leadership roles, and she answers that gender shouldn't matter much.
"The overwhelming consideration to someone like me is merit," Hayworth insisted.
Yet, as she continued to talk about her own campaign experience, Hayworth practically stopped herself.
"I did make it part of my theme, thinking about it now," Hayworth said, referring to the fact that she is a woman and mother of two grown children.
"It is one of those things that does strike a note and provides a bond with some folks in ways that did help me to reach good relationship with the voters here in New York's 19th District." | Read More
GOP women lost despite cash and business savvy
By Jason Horowitz
Thursday, November 4, 2010
LOS ANGELES - Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Linda McMahon had a lot in common.
All sharp, successful businesswomen who made millions as executives in the private sector, they identified 2010 as an apt historical moment for a Republican candidate with no political experience to break into politics. In pursuit of higher office, each committed considerable resources - more than $200 million combined - to challenge seemingly vulnerable Democrats.
Each risk taker came up far short of her goal. | Read More
Electable GOP Females Lag Democratic Counterparts
NPR.org
Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010
While there were a record number of Republican female candidates this year, many were defeated in their primaries. Democratic women outnumber Republican women among general election candidates, but Democratic women are likely to lose seats because of the anti-incumbency mood. Debbie Walsh, director of Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics, talks to Mary Louise Kelly about how female candidates are faring this election. | Read More
Mayoral chief of staff balances full plate of St. Paul projects
MinnPost.com
Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
By Joe Kimball
Erin Dady, always upbeat in her former role as St. Paul's marketing director, seems just as enthused in her new role as chief of staff for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
She cites the capital city's new $500,000 Promise Neighborhood grant from the Obama administration and continuing work on Central Corridor light rail as two high-priority projects sure to keep her and the mayor's staff busy in coming months. | Read More
Mama grizzlies: a semiotic investigation
The Economist.com
September 29th, 2010
LISA MILLER of Newsweek hunts for a theme binding together the crop of Republican congressional hopefuls dubbed "mama grizzlies" by the Bard of Wasilla and she comes up empty. Ms Miller concludes:
"Fundamentally, the mama-grizzly phenomenon is not really a movement or even a political term that represents a fully coherent set of ideas. It’s mostly a marketing tool, meant to draw attention to Americans’ broad dissatisfaction with the way things are. Fair enough. Many people are dissatisfied, and they want to vent and they want to change Washington. But in the wild, real mama grizzlies are known to be aggressive, irrational, and mean. The issues facing the country are complex, and bears are not." | Read More
Hear Them Growl
Sarah Palin says a new crop of conservative women will ‘rise up’ to protect their cubs. But will they?
Newsweek.com
September 27th, 2010
By Lisa Miller
"With few exceptions, the grizzlies have been disinterested in the issues and policies that their political opponents say are good for children—despite new numbers from the census showing that rising numbers of America’s children are poor. Most of these candidates have vowed to fight to repeal President Obama’s health-care plan, for instance, and Bachmann and Haley have taken special aim at CHIP, a federal program aimed at helping low-income kids get health insurance. In 2001, as a member of Nevada’s state Assembly, Angle voted no on a domestic-violence bill that would recognize restraining orders issued in other states. In 2007 Haley, a state representative, voted against a measure that would have created a kindergarten program for at-risk kids. As governor of Alaska in 2008, Palin slashed funding for Covenant House that included resources for teenage mothers. In 2009 Bachmann voted no on a bill that would give federal employees four weeks of paid parental leave." | Read More
Women's groups call out political sexism
September 1, 2010
WashingtonPost.com, By Krissah Thompson
The list includes the talk radio host who called a female senator a "prostitute" for cutting a deal to benefit her state, the male challenger who referred to his female rival "attractive" and "probably a good mother," and the TV host who noted that the candidate's wife looked like an angry woman. | Read More
Of Mama Grizzly Born?
August 18, 2010
NYTimes.com, by Gail Collins and Stacy Schiff
Gail Collins: Stacy, it’s great to be conversing with you while David Brooks is on vacation. It’s the first time I’ve had a woman to talk with in this format.
Stacy Schiff: I’m delighted that David takes a vacation.
Gail Collins: I can’t resist the temptation to talk about women in politics even though I know we should be counterintuitive and debate the use of drones in antiterrorism operations. | Read More
Editorial: Kelliher merits nod
Leadership style sets the party's endorsee apart
July 31, 2010
Startribune.com
Among the leading candidates in the DFL contest, party endorsee Margaret Anderson Kelliher exhibits more ability to unify than do her chief rivals, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, or political newcomer Peter Idusogie. She has our endorsement. | Read More
DFL gov candidates on MPR Midmorning
MPRNewsQ.com
July 20, 2010
The three DFL candidates for governor, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, are on MPR's Midmorning this hour. | Listen Here
Minnesota Governor Q+A:
Margaret Anderson Kelliher
MyFox.com
July 20, 2010
Why should voters choose you over your opponent?
As Governor I will do everything it takes to get Minnesota back to work. Almost 204,000 Minnesotans are unemployed. Thousands more are underemployed, working harder and earning less.
As Governor I will build a budget based on Minnesota’s highest priorities – focused on what we will achieve as a state, not just how we resolve the deficit. | Read More
Minnesota Voices: Women still have a long way to go
Startribune.com by J. Brian Atwood June 27th, 2010
Who owns the future? Men or women? That question was on some minds last week as a provocative report on the status of women in Minnesota was released by the Minnesota Women's Foundation and the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute's Center for Women and Public Policy. Television satirist Stephen Colbert even got into the act, interviewing the author of this month's lead story in the Atlantic magazine, "The End of Men." | Read More
Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists
Huffingtonpost.com by Marcia G. Yerman June 16, 2010
A number of years ago, I had a part-time gig at an elementary school where I taught afterschool classes in art and film classics. One warm June day, it was decided that the kids could spend thirty minutes in the playground. As I watched a scene that was a combination of raw energy and mayhem, I observed a small girl of about eight years old walking away from the three-tiered jungle gym. She was crying. I quickly approached her to find out what the problem was. She pointed to a skinny boy with black hair perched at the pinnacle of the metal bars. He was grinning proudly. She said, "He told me only boys were allowed at the top." | Read More
Women scarce on Sunday shows
Politico.com by Erika Lovley June 14, 2010
“If it’s Sunday, it’s more men wearing dark suits.” So far, none of the five major Sunday morning television news shows has embraced that as a promotional slogan. But women’s advocates — armed with new data showing that the shows are a bastion of male power — say it would be an apt description for the lot of them. | Read More
DCCC adds 6th to Red to Blue list
MPR Polinaut June 14, 2010
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is set to add Minnesota's 6th Congressional District to its "Red to Blue" list. DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said the announcement will be official shortly. The race features GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann against Democrat Tarryl Clark and the Independence Party's Bob Anderson. | Read More
Kelliher heads out on a jobs tour
StarTribune, Rachel E. Stassen Berger. June 13, 2010
DFL candidate for governor Margaret Anderson Kelliher Sunday headed out on a week-long five stop tour to promote a package of investments (aka state cash) to get "Minnesota back to work." | Read More
Barbara Kellerman: Year of the woman? Yeah, whatever.
StarTribune, June 13, 2010
It was a primary election -- that's all. For a true picture of progress, look at the stats about women in leadership roles. | Read More
Women scarce on Sunday shows
Politico.com by Erika Lovley June 14, 2010
So far, none of the five major Sunday morning television news shows has embraced that as a promotional slogan. But women’s advocates — armed with new data showing that the shows are a bastion of male power — say it would be an apt description for the lot of them. | Read More
DCCC adds 6th to Red to Blue list
MPR Polinaut June 14, 2010
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is set to add Minnesota's 6th Congressional District to its "Red to Blue" list. DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said the announcement will be official shortly. The race features GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann against Democrat Tarryl Clark and the Independence Party's Bob Anderson. | Read More
Kelliher heads out on a jobs tour
StarTribune, Rachel E. Stassen Berger. June 13, 2010
DFL candidate for governor Margaret Anderson Kelliher Sunday headed out on a week-long five stop tour to promote a package of investments (aka state cash) to get "Minnesota back to work." | Read More
Barbara Kellerman: Year of the woman? Yeah, whatever.
StarTribune, June 13, 2010
It was a primary election -- that's all. For a true picture of progress, look at the stats about women in leadership roles. | Read More