Women Have Become Key Power Players

While the 2000 election may be remembered for hanging chads, court challenges and protests, there’s another story to be told: Women clearly demonstrated they hold the key to victory for Democrats. Democratic women candidates were big winners in November, showing, across the country, that they could win the most closely contested races.

It is a measure of progress that we’ve become accustomed to women candidates making gains with each election. But it’s important to note that in 2000 women were the power players, leading the way toward Democrats regaining control of Congress in 2002. Women won heated and expensive House and Senate races by running tough, smart campaigns in battleground states. They withstood assaults from right-wing groups, the National Rifle Assn. and special-interest Republican funders.

Women candidates won because of their ideas, experience and leadership and because they communicated effectively with voters on the issues that matter. When the last vote was finally counted, more than half of all of the Republican incumbents who lost were beaten by Democratic women.

As the new Congress begins work, we will see the visible change of the political power of women. In 1986, there were no Democratic women in the Senate; in this Congress there will be 10. Just 15 years ago there were only 12 Democratic women in the House; there will be 41 in this 107th Congress. Moreover, Democratic women are significantly outpacing Republican women, who number just three in the Senate and 18 in the House.

With control of the Congress hanging by just five seats in the House and one in the Senate, it is especially noteworthy that Democrats chose two women, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Nita M. Lowey of New York, to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, respectively. These women will craft the political strategy, the message and the resources of hundreds of crucial Senate and House races in 2002.

Since 1980, the gender gap has been a factor in presidential politics, but it now strongly influences political races at all levels, with women voters preferring Democratic candidates and positions on issues. The EMILY’s List Women’s Monitor, a periodic survey of women voters, showed that in 2000 women voters gave both Al Gore and Democratic congressional candidates an 11-point advantage. The survey showed that women voters strongly supported Democrats on issues like education, prescription drug coverage for seniors, abortion and keeping the economy strong. Even many women who preferred President-elect George W. Bush for his leadership qualities disagreed with some of his positions on issues. For example, about one-third of female Bush voters were pro-choice.

These are powerful lessons for Democrats working to regain political control. Voter turnout will be critical in 2002, a nonpresidential election. Democrats will need an energized base that sees clear distinctions on the issues. Bush’s nominations of strongly anti-choice John Ashcroft as attorney general and Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson as secretary of Health and Human Services will give Democrats clear opportunities to show women that they respect a woman’s right to make their own reproductive decisions.

For some time the political world has recognized the growing importance of women in politics. EMILY’s List, the largest political action committee in the country in the past three election cycles, has been a significant player in increasing the election of Democratic women and in mobilizing women voters.

The election of 2000 has shown that women are no longer just an interesting sidebar story in electoral coverage. Women now have the political power to win the toughest races. They have earned the right to be major players in determining which party and which agenda will control the future.