Report: There's been little progress toward gender equity in politics

In this article, it marks the milestone for women's representation and states the process to gender parity is still slow, citing RepresentWomen's 2021 Gender Parity Report. Read an excerpt below: 

While Kathy Hochul's induction this week as the first female governor of New York marked a significant milestone for women's representation, there has been little progress elsewhere in the United States to improve gender equity in politics.

Succeeding former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned following several accusations of sexual harassment, Hochul joins eight other women currently serving as governor. Only 44 other women in the nation's history have held that office, and 19 states have never had a woman governor.

Thursday marks Women's Equality Day, but over the last year, the U.S. has seen meager improvements in the number of women serving at the local, state and national levels. According to a report released Monday by RepresentWomen, just under one-quarter of all major elected officials in the country are women — an increase of less than 1 percentage point from 2020.

Each year the nonpartisan organization RepresentWomen uses its Gender Parity Index to analyze underrepresentation in politics. States are ranked based on how many women currently hold, or within the last two terms have held, elected office.

Women's electoral success is scored on a weighted scale of 0 to 100. States can earn up to 30 points for women in Congress, 30 points for state executives, 30 points for state legislators and 10 points for local officials. The goal is for states to achieve 50 points for equal representation of women and men.

Once states are scored, they receive a grade: an A for 50 points or more, B for 49.9 to 33 points, C for 32.9 to 25 points, D for 24.9 to 10 points and F for 9.9 points or less.

Read the full article here.

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