With the recent primary victories of some Republican women for state wide offices in California, Connecticut, Nevada and South Carolina it has become fashionable for some in the media to hail this as some kind of banner year for Republican women. The fact is that Democratic women currently far outnumber Republican women holding office. And even if Republican women win a few seats this year they will still be far behind.
The following is a summary of current women officeholders as reported in a recent post by The Democratic Strategist:
13 Democratic women U.S. senators, vs. 4 Republicans
56 Democratic women House of Reps. members, vs. 17 Republicans
3 Democratic women Governors, 3 Republican women Governors
4 Democratic women Attorneys General, vs. 0 Republican women A.G.’s>
50 Democratic women holding statewide office in the U.S., vs. 21 Republican women
70.5 percent of women state senators are Democrats, vs. 27.2 percent Republicans
70.3 percent of women state legislators are Democrats, vs. 29.4 percent Republicans
A good source for information on women in public office is the website of Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.
Washington State ranks high in several categories compared to other states. It currently has the 6th highest number of women (32.7%) in the State Legislature. Along with Arizona and Connecticut it is one of only 3 states that have both a current woman Governor (Democrat Christine Gregoire) and one in the past (Democrat Dixy Lee Ray). In addition to a woman Governor, we also have 2 women as US Senators – Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell.
Senator Murray is up for re-election this year. Here’s a You Tube video about her campaign entitled Senator Patty Murray fights every day for the people.
