Readers React: Quotas are no way to close the political gender gap

To the editor: Nancy Cohen’s plan for attaining gender equality in California’s Legislature is terrible. We do not need to double the number of seats and divvy them up by gender. What we need is for more women to run for the existing 120 seats. (“How to end California’s political gender gap,” Op-Ed, Aug. 20)

California has term limits. It’s possible that all legislators could be women within a decade.

I don’t believe that California voters choose candidates based on gender. We have two U.S. senators and an attorney general who happen to be women. The reason we do not have more women legislators is because not many choose to run.

Instead of promoting far-fetched ideas, Cohen should find out why more viable women candidates are not running. Perhaps Cohen herself should run.

Raja Chakraborty, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Cohen wants to increase California’s already bloated and dysfunctional government for a gender quota scheme. For her to say female legislators are at least as effective as male legislators is unproven and sexist, along with the lunacy of women-only political positions.

She complains about too few women in office but ignores that women voters are also supporting the male-dominated political structure she despises.

Changing the face of government is up to the electorate, not activists who take it upon themselves to decide what’s best for everyone else.

Pat Murphy, Pacific Palisades