In the News
August 19, 2018
This article by Judy Wertheimer published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cites RepresentWomen's 2018 Gender Parity Index. Read an excerpt below.
Of the 28 people who represent at least some fragment of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, one is a woman. Of the 18 members of Pennsylvania’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, none are women, and Pennsylvania has never elected a woman senator or governor. A gender parity index compiled by RepresentWomen.org ranks Pennsylvania 49th ahead of only Mississippi.
What difference does it make? It makes all the difference. Legislatures are constantly making critical decisions about what to legislate and fund, and studies have shown repeatedly that women are more likely to prioritize bills aimed at improving the lives of women, families and children. Studies also have shown that the more women there are at the table, the more likely those bills are to succeed.
WTF Pittsburgh has endorsed all the aforementioned candidates, as well as Betsy Monroe in state House District 30. There likely will be another round of endorsements before the general election. And while the group is nonpartisan by definition, in practice so far all endorsed candidates are democrats. The operative word is “progressive.”
“You need to realize,” explains Ms. Rudiak, “that you can give $50 to your favorite breast cancer charity, and you can also give $50 to a candidate who can earmark $50 million for breast cancer research.” She goes on to talk about how great it was when a woman approached her after a recent WTF Pittsburgh event and handed her a crumpled $5 bill.
That’s the only way we’ll claim our own seats at the table, if each of us shows up, and does what we can. In this political moment, it’s one real thing we can do — we can show up for our sisters who are showing up for us.
Read the complete article here.
