Inside The Fight To Help More Women Get Elected In 2020

By Diandra Loux


From local municipal races all of the way up to the national level, females of every race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and profession made themselves heard in the 2018 midterm elections. According to The Center for American Ladies and Politics at Rutgers University and The Girls in Public Service Project, 125 girls, including 45 ladies of color, won their seats for the U.S. Residence or the U.S. Senate in the 2018 election cycle.


Per Vox, over 42,000 girls contacted Emily’s List, a company that recruits and trains pro-choice females to run for every level of office across the nation, about running for office while in the 2018 election. The interest was so fierce that they expanded their personnel and built out a training program to meet the demand. Emily’s List candidates went on to flip the 24 home seats needed to win the U.S. Residence majority, and the categorize is already working with more ladies ahead of the 2020 election.


For several, the surge in 2018 was no surprise — immediately following the 2016 election, the collection of females interested in running for office was at an all-time high. But running for office, and connecting to your voter base, isn't an one-person job; beyond most political candidates at every level are corporations that support and train them, and, ultimately, get them elected. And most of the companies helping female candidates specifically have been working in back of the scenes for years in preparation for a moment like the one we’re right now in — as soon as girls feel empowered to enter the race.


More girls than ever are stepping up to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren, and also Representative Tulsi Gabbard. Meanwhile, lawmakers — including Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), the opening black woman elected to congress in Massachusetts; Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the opening Muslim females elected to Congress; and Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sharice Davids (D-KS), the opening Native American ladies ever elected to congress, plus Davids is the initial openly LGBTQ woman elected to congress in Kansas — are all helping political hopefuls identify that they, also, can be a piece of the shifting landscape.


She Should Run, a Washington, DC-based corporation, says they’ve prepared over 21,000 females to run for office. Among those ladies is Grace Williams, a student at Ohio Northern Law School who balances her coursework with She Should Run’s incubator program, an online training that prepares females to run for office.


“A large piece of the training was listening to what other girls experienced as candidates, putting your thoughts to paper, and then saying those thoughts out loud in front of other people,” mentioned Williams. Although she’s not although sure where her place in the government will be, the 23-year-old was inspired by the wave of ladies of color running for and winning their bids for office.


According to Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run For Something, ladies comprised over 50 percent of the 11,000 people who have contacted the them since the midterm election with hopes of one day running for office. The business aims to recruit and support young females and boys from diverse backgrounds to run for down-ballot races categorize in attempt to construct a bench for the future, and works to lower the barriers of entry for candidates by helping them with cash, organizing, and access to the trainings they require to be successful in the process.


The company tries to be early endorsers for their candidates to prepare ensure they are supported and know that they’re doing a good job. “It sounds really small however it’s incredibly meaningful. They’re not going to be alone in this,” Litman says.


“The surge of ladies inquiring about running for office has become a snowball effect,” adds She Should Run CEO Erin Loos Cutaro. “We’re seeing incredible ladies leaders who don’t just define one background,” she adds, citing the midterm elections as a key turning point for several political hopefuls.


Although however more girls are taking on the role of political candidate, females are still underrepresented at every level of government, party because they simply don’t run at the same rate as boys. As of January, ladies still only make up 23.7 percent of Congress. Those numbers are even grimmer for ladies of color.


“Women of color only resemble nine percent of Congress and just five percent of statewide offices. We have a long way to go to be completely representative of the good diversity that we offer,” Loos Cutaro says, adding that representation for LGBTQ+ individuals is also a priority for She Should Run. “Every time we elect a woman who leads as a LGBTQ woman, it ignites the possibility of the females who haven’t seen themselves represented.”


Several political hopefuls no longer feel like they have to conform to what was once expected of a lady candidate in terms of appearance and pedigree, although there really are still hurdles to conquer — like the all-too-familiar imposter syndrome.


Loos Cutaro calls doubts like, “Am I qualified?,” “Can I afford what it will cost financially, do I have the time?,” “What will it cost me in being out in public with my leadership?,” And “Can I stage name the attacks on my family member and friends?” Key reasons some females opt not to run for office.


Florida-based corporation Ruth’s List has noticed that training was especially favorable any time it came to helping females feel comfortable running for office. The categorize works on a state and local level, and has trained more than 1,800 girls to run for office in past and future elections; they are currently the only company in Florida that offers free training to would-be candidates, which includes helping candidates categorize through what they’re thinking, figure out what they could be best suited for, what their key issues are, and where their political passions lie.


Anna Eskamani first started exploring the idea of running for office while in an internship at Ruth’s List. (She had previously worked with Run For Something.) As an intern, the now-28-year-old Orlando native became involved in grassroots efforts by phone banking for candidates, volunteering at Proposed Parenthood, and registering voters. While encouraging other girls to run, they would ask Eskamani, “Why not you?” As a result, she scheduled a meeting with the political directors at Ruth’s List to begin weighing out her options. On November 7, 2018, she walked away with a victory for Florida Home District 47.


“These firms are so key because I think if ladies realize they have a network of support, they plan to be more inclined to run for office,” Eskamani says.


And the empowerment doesn’t end with one election. According to Ruth’s List CEO Pam Goodman, their candidates who ran in 2018 and lost either their primaries or general elections are all running again. The agency will continue to support these girls as candidates in the 2020 election; they also anticipate doubling their numbers from 2018 by the time 2020 comes along.


“Decisions were made immediately,” Goodman says. “This is a movement. This isn't a trend. Our nation needed a movement like this.”