A Seattle-based fund is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into recruiting women to run for statehouse seats in three states, part of its effort to close the gender gap in American politics.

The group, called the Ascend Fund, announced Tuesday that it has awarded $600,000 to 13 nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations that will work to recruit and train statehouse candidates from across the political spectrum in Michigan, Mississippi and Washington. The groups will receive grant funding of $15,000 to $100,000, with an average award of $50,000.

The struggle across parties for women to rise to the top within states speaks to the inherent bias against women that persists in politics. Research shows that women have to be more likeable, raise more money and generally work harder than their male counterparts in order to win. That’s why both the Democratic and Republican parties have vowed to invest more money and resources into supporting women gunning for governor in 2022.

Dear fans of gender balance in politics,

We are excited to share that RepresentWomen is growing! As Cynthia is away this week, this Weekend Reading is brought to you by our team. 

First up, we have a piece from Katie Usalis, our Outreach Coordinator: 

I recently asked a friend of mine why she thought there were so few women in politics. Her response was that it’s probably because politics just isn’t the place for women, that it’s more of a “man thing.” Recent research in the American Political Science Review reveals that these beliefs don’t exist by accident, but that girls are socialized to lose political ambition from a very young age.  The 19th*’s Barbara Rodriguez met with one of the authors to talk about how deep gender bias runs in American politics:

Candidates for Boston mayor Annissa Essaibi George & Michelle Wu, Boston Globe