A Conundrum: Once Elected Can Women Stay?
In an article in yesterday’s Washington Post Melinda Henneberger talks about a book that has some interesting findings about women who are elected to Congress; it seems incumbency doesn’t protect women in quite the same way it does men.
Henneberger discusses the findings from a new book, by Barbara Palmer and Dennis Simon, Women and Congressional Elections: A Century of Change.
Given everything we know about the barriers women face when running for office, it should come as no surprise that women seem to have a harder time staying in office.
Henneberger writes:
There are many reasons more women don’t run, including that they’re still less likely to come forward unless asked — and are less likely to be asked. They’re more put off by the possible nastiness and by the certain loss of privacy. What I did not know, though, is that incumbency doesn’t protect women in quite the same way it does men…
In Palmer and Simon’s book, Henneberger found that:
Even after they’re elected to Congress…women continue to have more competition in both primary and general elections than their male counterparts do, and have to fight harder and raise more money to stay in office. Consciously or not, they’re perceived as more vulnerable, regardless of their margin of victory, say the authors, who’ve spent 14 years researching some 40,000 candidates.
The research shows that even after being elected, women candidates still have to fight harder than their male counterparts in trying to achieve equal gender representation in politics. It’s worth noting, however, that they are very much up to the task. In fact, She Should Run’s Vote With Your Purse report showed that in 2010 women House incumbents outraised their male counterparts by an average of $100,000.
Another interesting point that Henneberger raises is how a state’s demographic makeup can seemingly predict a woman candidate’s potential electability. She states that “upscale, urban areas” like California’s 8th district, which is represented by Nancy Pelosi, generally typify the districts most likely to elect women. Predictably, “rural or blue collar areas” like Texas and Alabama, are the least likely to elect women candidates.
Henneberger’s article makes it clear that the work of organizations like our partner, She Should Run, is of even more importance as our efforts need to focus not only on encouraging women candidates to run for office, but also to help in their efforts to stay in office.
Published by Kate McCarthy on 06/13/2012