This week, I had the opportunity to spend time in California, connecting with partners, allies, and leaders across the Bay Area and Los Angeles. I’m returning home today both energized and deeply grateful.
There is something powerful about stepping out of our day-to-day work and into shared spaces with others who are committed to building a more representative, accountable democracy. These moments of listening, learning, and aligning are where so much of this work truly comes to life.
In Los Angeles, I was especially glad to join RepresentWomen’s Communications Director, Alana Persson, for a Women’s History Month event hosted by Murmuration, a nonprofit that works to support organizations with the tools, data, and insights needed to build community power and drive change. It was a wonderful evening, and I was honored to be a speaker in conversation with an extraordinary group of leaders including Emily Ramshaw of The 19th News, Adela de la Torre of the Justice Action Center, Yolanda Davis-Overstreet of Biking While Black, Sarah Stamper of Murmuration, and Tanzila Ahmed, a political strategist and storyteller based in Los Angeles. Each brought a unique perspective on leadership, narrative change, and what it means to build communities that truly reflect and serve us all.
We were also fortunate to have Murmuration’s Founder and CEO, Emma Bloomberg, open the evening with thoughtful remarks reflecting on the vision for an America where everyone thrives, and why investing in community-led organizing is so essential to getting there. Her framing of Women’s History Month, grounded in both history and forward-looking purpose, echoed so much of what we reflected on in last week’s Weekend Reading: that progress does not happen on its own, but rather it’s built, sustained, and carried forward by generations of women and allies who refuse to accept the status quo.
One of the most meaningful moments of the trip was celebrating alongside our partners at CalRCV. Executive Director Marcela Miranda-Prieto and Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission member Carla Fuentes joined us as we recognized a major milestone: the Commission’s lopsided vote in favor of the adoption of ranked choice voting for the City Council. This recommendation was also independently made this month by Rewrite LA, a citizens assembly project. Now it’s onto the City Council for consideration for a place on the November ballot. This exciting progress is a testament to the years of advocacy and coalition-building, bringing one of the largest cities in the country closer to implementing a system that expands voter choice, lowers barriers to run, and opens proven pathways for more representative leadership.
As we close out Women’s History Month, I’m holding both the weight of how far we still have to go and the momentum that is building in communities nationwide. Thank you to everyone who continues to be part of this work, whether through partnership, advocacy, or simply staying engaged.
I loved these creative coasters at the event! Every day, Murmuration asks thousands of people questions like these to obtain a better understanding of how people feel about important issues in their communities!
Milestones: U.S. Supreme Court overturns state laws designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property (1981); First NCAA women’s college basketball national championship game (1982); In Minor v. Happersett, the U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled unanimously that the right of suffrage was not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1874)
Birthdays: Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Founder and Director of MomsRising; Jessica Chastain; Dr. Dorothy Height, civil rights leader and advocate for women's equality (1912); Ann Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Representative; Ellen Bravo, ED of Family Values @ Work; Aretha Franklin, singer (1942); Matilda Joslyn Gage, suffragist (1826); Gloria Steinem, feminist, journalist, & political activist; Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice; Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives; Helen Hass, RepresentWomen intern; Sally Kohn, author of The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity; Virginia Minor, suffragist and the plaintiff in Minor v. Happersett and 1874 Supreme Court Case in which she unsuccessfully argued for women's right to suffrage under the 14th Amendment (1824); Liz Martinez, Running Start mentor; Melanie Humble, RepresentWomen's resident artist and education specialist at the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve; and Wilhelmina Kekelaokalaninui Widemann Dowsett, Hawaiian suffragist (1861).
Emily Gregory Flips Florida House Seat in Trump's Backyard
In one of the most closely watched special elections of the year, Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election for Florida state house district 87 this week in Palm Beach. One of her new constituents will be President Donald Trump, who voted by mail in the primary due to his home in Mar-a-Lago. Gregory, a business owner and military spouse running for office for the first time, defeated Republican Jon Maples, who had received Trump's endorsement.
Gregory won 51.15% of the vote to Maples' 48.85%, marking the first time a Democrat has won in the district this century. Trump had carried the district by 11 points in 2024, and the previous Republican incumbent won reelection by 19 points. Gregory is the owner of a fitness company that works with pregnant and postpartum women. Speaking after her victory, she said she was "pretty shocked" and described the win as an out-of-body experience. In an interview with MSNOW after her win, Gregory said:
“When I started this [campaign] nine months ago, I obviously thought it was possible, I think most people thought I was insane…I'm still pretty shocked. We did it.” When asked what she thought about Trump now being one of her constituents, she said, “I don’t think all that much about it. I mean, he’s one of 115,000 registered voters in District 87…. I focused more on the voters in District 8,7, what everybody needs.”
Democratic candidates running for state legislative seats this year have outperformed Kamala Harris' 2024 vote totals by nearly 11 points on average. Tuesday's win was the 29th seat Democrats have flipped from Republican control since Trump took office.
Trump Endorses Wife of RNC Chair for Florida Congressional Seat
As we’ve reported, Donald Trump in early primaries has overwhelmingly endorsed Republican men, who have nearly always won, and Republican women keep falling behind their Democratic counterparts. This week, he endorsed a woman in a congressional race in Florida - the well-connected wife of the chair of the Republican National Committee. The Hill reports:
President Trump announced Tuesday that he would endorse Sydney Gruters, the executive director of the New College Foundation and wife of Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Joe Gruters, if she decides to run for retiring Rep. Vern Buchanan’s (R-Fla.) seat in Congress…
Sydney Gruters is reportedly considering running for the Southwest Florida seat situated between Tampa and Sarasota. She previously worked as a district director for Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.). In a statement, she said she was “honored” to have the president’s backing.
New LWV Report: Women Voters by the Numbers in 2024
A new data report from the League of Women Voters definitively shows that women hold the majority of voting power in the 2024 electorate, a finding released as critical midterms draw near. The report notes:
"Women turned out in even higher numbers in 2024 than in the 2022 midterms. Notably, in both elections, women turned out in higher numbers than men. In 2024 specifically, 91.3 million women voted, as compared to 82.6 million men.
Rates of female voters were particularly high in Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Rates were lower, but still significant, in Arkansas and Louisiana."
Women ages 25-64 cast the most votes overall, while young voters aged 18–24 cast the fewest, a persistent gap that the League identifies as one of the most important challenges ahead. Engaging young women voters, the report notes, remains essential as they decide who will represent them on the issues that shape their futures.
The data arrive at a consequential moment. As this week's 19th News focus group report makes clear, young women across the political spectrum feel economically anxious and politically unseen. The LWV numbers show they have the numbers to change that, if they turn out. As the League puts it, women voters have enormous power in our elections, and the potential to flex it even further as diverse communities are engaged and empowered.
Women at the Center of the Los Angeles Mayor's Race
The race to lead the nation's second-largest city is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched contests of 2026, and women are at the center of it. The nonpartisan primary on June 2nd can be won by securing more than half the vote, or the top two will contest the election in a November runoff - a two-round system that the Los Angeles city charter commission this spring recommended be replaced with a single-round ranked choice voting contest in November.
A new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times offers the first broad snapshot of where the race stands. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leads with 25% support among likely voters, followed by City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 17% and conservative reality TV personality Spencer Pratt at third with 14%. Community organizer Rae Huang drew 8%. About a quarter of likely voters remain undecided
The numbers are sobering for Bass, with 56% of those polled viewing her unfavorably, compared to just 31% favorably. The criticism centers largely on her handling of the Palisades fires. Bass herself has acknowledged she has work to do: "I think the overall electorate is in a very sour mood," she told reporters. "It just shows me that I have work to do, and I'm ready for the work."
Raman, who entered the race just hours before the filing deadline in February, was viewed favorably by 26% and unfavorably by 23%, with a majority of voters still saying they don't know enough about her to have an opinion, suggesting significant room for growth. She told the Times her campaign is focused on making the city more affordable.
Whatever the outcome, the June 2 primary will be a referendum on women's leadership in one of America's most consequential cities, with three women candidates (Bass, Raman, and Huang) collectively drawing more than half the vote in early polling, and a first-time woman mayor's record on the line.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 7 Features Two Women
On April 7, two women will face off for a seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Elections in recent years have resulted in a remarkable streak for women candidates, with women holding six of the seven seats on the Court. Louis Jacobson in the Almanac of American Politics Substack profiles the contest.
On April 7, Wisconsin voters will vote—again—in a Supreme Court election. And liberals are well-positioned to extend their majority on the court. In a string of hotly contested races since 2017, the court shifted from a 5-2 conservative majority to a 4-3 liberal majority. That evolution has had major consequences on several issues..
Meanwhile, the 2027 Supreme Court race is already attracting attention, because the incumbent, conservative Annette Ziegler, has said she will not seek reelection. Another flip could allow the court’s liberals to further extend their majority.
Young Women Feel Left Behind Under Trump's Economy
A new report from The 19th offers a timely and sobering look at how young women are experiencing the current economic moment and what it means politically heading into 2026.
Two recent focus groups convened by Navigator Research and observed by The 19th brought together young women in battleground states. Women in their 20s to early 30s said they feel left behind in the economy, are anxious and apprehensive about the future, and largely don't think politicians, including President Trump, understand their struggles. Some shared difficult personal experiences, from job loss to being a single parent after the death of a partner.
The focus groups spanned the political spectrum: one group of Democratic- and independent-leaning women of color, and one of Republican- and Republican-leaning women who did not vote for Kamala Harris in 2024. The economic anxiety was shared across both.
“They really had some real things that they were grappling with and not feeling like they were getting the support that they needed from the government, that government was just not there for them, was not understanding them,” said Margie Omero, principal at Democratic polling firm GBAO who conducted the two focus groups. “They were on their own, and in a way that was really striking and powerful.”
… Omero said that while young women voters’ frustration with the economy and Trump’s war with Iran makes them persuadable, their negative views toward Republicans and Trump’s record aren’t necessarily enough to persuade them to vote for Democrats. Those women are looking less for a set of specific policies, she said, and more for candidates who they feel care about and understand them.
“You need to understand and have compassion and empathy for folks who are going through all kinds of different things, and that’s something that every candidate needs, no matter what they’re running for, to be able to do,” she added. “And they’re just not getting that from Trump. They’re not feeling it from Trump, even folks who voted for Trump don’t seem to be feeling it from Trump.”
The Iran War: ‘The First Losers in All of This Were Women
As the undeclared war against Iran continues to cause direct and indirect ripple effects around the world, New York Times opinion editor Meher Ahmad has a sobering essay on the impact of the war on women in the Middle East. Here is an excerpt from a piece that is well-worth reading in full.
On the morning of March 2, three days into the American-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran, Yanar Mohammed, a 65-year-old women’s rights proponent in Iraq, was gunned down in front of her home in northern Baghdad.
Her killing is still under investigation, but it is almost certain that Ms. Mohammed was killed because of her work. She had spent the better part of the last 20 years campaigning for women’s rights and operating a network of safe houses for women: women fleeing abuse, women fleeing ISIS, women fleeing the many iterations of violence inflicted on them in the wake of America’s invasion of Iraq…
War is bad for all living creatures, but it is especially bad for women. According to Oxfam, one in five women displaced by war suffers sexual violence. In wartime, their education is the first to stop. More than 60 percent of preventable maternal deaths happen to women living through displacement and conflict.
Yet we find ourselves, more than 20 years from the start of the war on terror, once again falling prey to the idea that bombing can liberate women in still another majority-Muslim country. The belief remains persistent because of deep-rooted misconceptions of Muslims: Western feminism is unable to square that women who wear the veil could be empowered and have rights, but it’s also that the Western imagination — or Western policymakers anyway — is incapable of recognizing the depth and variety of Muslim life…
As the bombs continue to fall, the words of Ms. Mohammed, the Iraqi activist — and her fate — haunt me: “The first losers in all of this,” she once said, “were women.”
P.S. — In order to meet my target for reading this year, I have taken to listening to books while walking, gardening, driving, folding laundry, and ironing! This week I have been listening to The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. It is a beautifully written book about a friendship between two women during the tumultuous rise & fall of the Shah of Iran that also tracks the role of the United States in Iran during that era. I have been grateful for this narrative, which has reminded me of both the history and the humanity at the core of every conflict.
