In the News
February 9, 2023
This op-ed in New York Amsterdam News by Yvette Buckner references RepresentWomen's 2022 New York City Report on how the city's council propelled women's representation. Read an excerpt below.
Black women in New York hold more positions of power than ever: a Black woman attorney general; the State Assembly’s first-ever Black woman as majority leader; and the first Black woman speaker of the New York City Council, which is the most diverse City Council in the history of New York and for the first time, composed of a majority of women. But this historic representation can’t be our upper limit. It has to be the foundation on which we build.
While a women-majority NYC Council is an undeniable indicator of progress, we know that the power of incumbency is lower for women than for men and that women new to the political arena face steeper headwinds. For women of color, especially Black women, those headwinds are even steeper.
Research from the Brookings Institution has indicated that only 3.1% of Black women make up the country’s elected officials, and that Black women candidates as a whole are under-represented, making up only about 2% of the candidates who choose to challenge incumbents. Meanwhile, Demos found that “Black women are often deterred by a number of factors when they decide to run for public office” because of the social exclusion that comes with their race and gender, including finding and fielding donors.
If we want to address that national gap and ensure more Black and brown women are elected, we need to act quickly—and early. That’s why we [the New Majority NYC ] are leaning into endorsing early and consistently, protecting incumbent women on the Council who uphold our bottom-line issues, investing in our first-ranked candidates, and leaning into ranked-choice voting to further diversify our Council.
Early endorsements are a powerful tool in maintaining momentum and sustaining the progress we’ve made. That’s why the New Majority NYC (formerly 21 in ’21) endorses early—especially in primary elections—and supports women who run for office from day one. Other groups need to follow suit. According to findings from Represent Women, establishing early assistance and mentorship is crucial to political power-building for women. Simply put, early support helps women win—and because New York City’s races are so often won or lost in the primaries, it is critical to support candidates before the primaries.
Read the complete article here.
