By Cynthia Richie Terrell and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf

Originally published in Ms. Magazine, 2/22/2022

These are trying times, no doubt. We have heard multiple well-informed people talk about plans to become self-reliant homesteaders because of “how things are going” in our country. Others have even casually mentioned that they have an escape plan lined up in case things “continue to go south.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is among the women officials elected through ranked choice voting.

Nearly 100 years after a large number of American women won the right to vote, progress for women in politics in the United States remains slow. Women have made important gains, but remain dramatically underrepresented in proportion to our share of the population — especially women of color and Republican women. Men disproportionately dominate Congress, state legislatures, city councils, and other elective offices.

By Cynthia Richie Terrell

There’s a reason for the phrase “Money makes the world go around.” As we’ve seen this election cycle, no matter a candidate’s platform or connections, they won’t get anywhere without cash in their pockets. An estimated $5.7 billion was spent on the midterm elections in 2018, and it appears we’re about to see that record blown out of the water.

By Cynthia Richie Terrell

There’s a reason for the phrase “Money makes the world go around.” As we’ve seen this election cycle, no matter a candidate’s platform or connections, they won’t get anywhere without cash in their pockets. An estimated $5.7 billion was spent on the midterm elections in 2018, and it appears we’re about to see that record blown out of the water.

Greg Nash, The Hill

By Cynthia Richie Terrell

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has exited the Democratic presidential primary and with her go our hopes for a woman president during the 2020 suffrage centennial. The primary season and subsequent general election now will take on the familiar contours of two white men. After our first African American president and first woman presidential nominee of a major party, many had hoped this scenario would be a ghost of elections past. 

Greg Nash, The Hill

By Cynthia Richie Terrell

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has exited the Democratic presidential primary and with her go our hopes for a woman president during the 2020 suffrage centennial. The primary season and subsequent general election now will take on the familiar contours of two white men. After our first African American president and first woman presidential nominee of a major party, many had hoped this scenario would be a ghost of elections past. 

Abigail Adams may have been the first woman to engage in democracy reform in the United States. (MPI/Getty Images)

By Cynthia Richie Terrell

Sojourner Truth didn’t deliver her iconic “Ain’t I a Woman?” address for the sake of an inspirational Instagram post. Susan B. Anthony didn’t champion women’s voting rights for a special museum exhibit. A women-themed happy hour was hardly the motivation for Sacagawea’s dangerous trek across the country with Lewis and Clark.