Good News and Bad News

Because I'm a member of the Emerge Oregon class of 2010, I was recently asked to give a presentation to a local women's group about the past, present, and future of women in politics.  As I've spent some time pulling together information that might be interesting to my audience, I've realized that there is both good news and bad news when it comes to the facts about women in politics today.

First, the bad news:

• The US Senate and the US House of Representatives are both currently only 17% female. We rank 74^th in the world (tied with Turkmenistan, and behind Pakistan, China, and Iraq) in terms of the percentage of women in our legislature.
• Nineteen states (including my own, Oregon) have no women in their Congressional delegations.
• Only 6 states currently have female governors.
• The average state House of Representatives is 25% women while the average state Senate is only 23% women.

And now for the good news:

• The state of Maine actually has more women than men in its Congressional delegation. Both of its Senators (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) as well as one of its two Representatives are women.
• New Hampshire is also a star in terms of the representation of women in office. Its Congressional delegation is 50% women (with one Senator and one Representative). New Hampshire is also the only state to have a state legislative body with more than half of its members made up of women - its state Senate is 54% female.
• On average, the percentage of women in state legislatures has been increasing steadily (though very slowly) over the past 25 years. The average state legislature (counting both Senators and Representatives) was 14% women in 1985, 18% in 1990, 22% in 2000, and 24% today (data source: Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers).

But the best news of all is that today, we have organizations like Emerge that are committed to the idea that women bring a unique and valuable perspective to public office.  Emerge gives women the encouragement, tools, and network needed to run and win.  Because of my participation in Emerge, I have met dozens of inspiring women who are running at the local, state, and federal level.  While the present state of women in politics may not be ideal, it's difficult not to feel hopeful about the future given the level of talent and commitment I see in my Emerge classmates and in the program's alumna and supporters.

Julie Fahey
2010 Class Member
Emerge Oregon