Many of the states holding gubernatorial elections have term limits which make some multi-term governors ineligible for re-election. Two Democratic governors are term-limited, while six incumbent Democratic governors are eligible for re-election. Among Republican governors, 14 are term-limited, while ten can seek re-election. One independent governor, Bill Walker of Alaska, is eligible for re-election.

In 2016, Representation2020, the Center for Responsive Politics, and Common Cause examined the break down of PAC giving by candidate gender, to find how PACs donated their money to women candidates. Examining U.S. House and Senate elections from 2010–2014 (and with the help of some 2016 data) we found that some PACs were more equitable at giving money to women candidates than others. So what PACs gave the most to women in the 2016 election cycle and what PACs gave the least?

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women,commented on the UN report on women's representation and map showing where women hold office.

My friends,

There were of course many articles and news stories on the celebration of International Women's Day from the both the United States and from around the world. Those in the US reported on the uptick of interest from women in running for office while those from abroad looked at the quota and voting systems used in most nations.

• Scotland's Sunday Herald asked State of the Nation: Do We Need 50-50 Quotas to Close the Gender Gap? "That quotas can speed up women’s representation is clear. The UK sits, on the most recent gender gap rankings at 20th, behind not only Iceland, Germany and Ireland, but also Rwanda, Namibia and Philippines. One of the areas in which we rank badly is in terms of political representation. On this, a great many other countries in the world beat us – among them, Bolivia and Rwanda, which both have over 50% women in their parliaments. What distinguishes many of these more gender-balanced countries is that they have some kind of legislated quota system"

• A story on the CBC reports on Canadian student Taya Nabuurs electoral reform speech in the House of Commons which was very well received - she spoke about the value of proportional representation voting systems to increase women's representation: "Electoral reform is a clear and tangible way that we can make steps towards a Canada in which all voices are equally represented," she said. Nabuurs, representing the P.E.I. riding of Cardigan, said extensive research has shown that certain electoral models more effectively promote the election of women to political office."Party list proportional representation systems in particular incentivize parties to run lists of candidates and therefore are the most successful at getting women's names on the ballot," she said. "I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of reforming our electoral system to create the most fair, democratic, and engaging system possible. The fight for electoral reform is not over."  Taya's Twitter handle is @TayaNabuurs I hope you will join me in following and supporting her!

My dear friends,

Great news for women's representation fans! Eighteen states now have ranked choice voting legislation pending and just today the Utah state house passed RCV with support from 75% of the republican members and all of the democrats - illustrating that rules changes that benefit everyone are winnable & have bipartisan support!

The Asahi Shimbun had a very interesting editorial about women's representation in Asia - a subject I am embarrassed to say I know little about - reading it reminded me of the commonalities of the challenges that are true in every country. I thought this quote was an interesting application of the use of targets - or voluntary quotas:

The Abe administration has pledged to promote the role of women in Japan’s male-dominated society and set a target of raising the ratio of women in leading positions to 30 percent by 2020. But there has been no significant progress in this regard...More than 100 countries operate some form of legal or voluntary electoral gender quotas. Typical systems involve reserved seats and candidate quotas for women.

​Check out FairVote's new app to vote on the Oscar nominees using the same ranked choice voting system that the Oscar voters use! Once we work out all the kinks - your feedback is most encouraged - we hope that you will use this new app for any and all decisions!

Congratulations to Jina Sanone on the launch of her terrific Georgia-based project Elect Her! I have been so impressed with Jina's ingenuity and determination - she is a terrific ally for all of us as we build our 50 state strategy to win gender parity.

The inimitable Susannah Wellford wrote a terrific piece in US News & World Report asking whether it's time to consider quotas and the other structural reforms that have been so effective in the 103 nations that rank above the United States in the representation of women. I am so glad to hear of growing interest in gender quotas/targets but I think I may need to consider donning an Irish accent when I speak about these reforms in public so I can be as persuasive as our Irish allies!

​Dear friends,

​Dear all,

Groundhog Day. We all know the movie in which Bill Murray is destined to repeat the same year, year after year until he "begins to re-examine his life and priorities." This 'holiday' lesson seems especially relevant this year as those of us who care about women's representation are caught up in defending our rights, and the rights of others -  but I call on all of us to think about medium and longer term strategies that always will seem less urgent but are essential.

The Pew Research Center released a fascinating report about a 2015 study that tracks attitudes about gender equality across countries. Ninety one percent of Americans think that women's equality is 'very important'  - a full 26% above the median. Yet the United States ranks in 100th place for women's representation. How can this be? The answer lies in the lesson Bill Murray learned in Ground Hog Day. If we want different outcomes - and we now have the data that shows that 9 in 10 Americans want women's equality - we need to make different choices and pursue new strategies to elect women and get them into positions of leadership and power.