By Kyle Wind

Pennsylvania ranks second-to-last out of all 50 states — ahead of only Mississippi — in electing women to representative positions in government, according to an organization called Representation2020.

The Maryland-based initiative ranked every state in the U.S. this year and gave the commonwealth an F, with a “gender parity” score of 6.5 out of a goal of 50 points.

The report noted Pennsylvania has no female U.S. senators, members of the U.S. House of Representatives or statewide executives; 19 percent of the state Legislature is made up of women; and relatively few women serve as mayors of cities and county commissioners.

U.S. Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today introduced the Fair Representation Act, a bill which would enact a series of measures designed to reform congressional elections.

“The Fair Representation Act is designed to restore the faith which so many Americans have lost in our political system,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “This bill would ensure that every voter has their voice represented in Congress, and make real progress towards bipartisan focus on getting results for the American people.”

Rep. Beyer was joined by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), co-leads on the bill, as well as speakers from FairVote and Third Way.

“The Fair Representation Act is the most comprehensive approach to improving congressional elections in American history,” said Rob Richie, the executive director of FairVote. “It creates an impartial, national standard that gets at the core of FairVote’s mission: Giving voters greater choice, a stronger voice, and a representative democracy that works for all Americans.”

By David Travis Bland

A new study gives South Carolina a “D” grade for gender equality in elected office. That poor grading comes with the Palmetto State ranking 23rd in the nation for gender parity.

“Gender parity is defined as the point at which women and men are equally likely to hold elected office in the state,” the study says. 

The study was put together by Representation 2020, which is part of FairVote, a voting advocacy organization. They looked at gender parity amongst elected officials in all 50 states, giving each a score between zero and 100 with 50 meaning a state has reached gender parity in elected office. 

South Carolina scored 20. Among the reasons given for the low score and grade are the fact that the Palmetto State has no women elected to Congress and that only one woman holds any of the eight statewide offices, that being Molly Spearman, superintendent of education. 

“I think the mentality [is] that we should be at home raising our children; you hear those kinds of comments,” says Democratic S.C. Rep. Beth Bernstein about the results.

As the study points out, only five women have held congressional seats in the history of South Carolina, four of whom went to Washington, D.C., following the death of their husbands. In 1986, Liz Patterson, daughter of former governor and U.S. Sen. Olin D. Johnston, was the first woman elected for a South Carolina House of Representatives seat. She lost reelection in 1992.

Other reasons for South Carolina’s rank and grade include the low percentage of women in the legislature, only 14 percent, and having only two women as mayors or executives in towns of 30,000 or more people. Linda Page is mayor of Mount Pleasant, and Columbia has the only female municipal executive: Teresa Wilson, the city manager. 

“We are completely underrepresented in the legislature as far as women representation,” says Bernstein, who recently met with a group to encourage more women to run for office. 

All this taken together means that South Carolina is far behind when it comes to gender parity for elected officials. But so is the rest of the United States.

By Erwin Encinares

A recent study released by Representation2020, a group that advocates for reforms in the recruitment process, voting systems, and legislative practices so that more women would enter public office, suggests that the big picture hasn’t changed much, with the federal government dominated by mostly men.

According to the gender parity index, or GPI, which rates women’s electoral success at the local, state, and national levels, the 2017 report finds that women are underrepresented across the board.

Since the Northern Mariana Islands is not a state, it did not get a formal gender parity score, but the GPI Report still tracks their progress toward parity.

“Unfortunately, their progress is only marginal. The Islands have never elected a female delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives or a female governor,” a statement from Representation2020 said.

Representation2020 has released its latest analysis on the underrepresentation of women in elected office, quantified through the Gender Parity Index. The GPI rates women’s recent electoral success at the local, state, and national levels, and the 2017 report finds that women are underrepresented at all levels of government.

As of June 2017, the median Gender Parity Score is 18.6, barely up from the 2015 score of 18.1. The GPI ranks New Hampshire first and Mississippi last in women’s political representation. Out of all 50 states, 33 have a Gender Parity Score below 25, giving them a grade of D or F.

The GPI indicates regional gender parity trends across the nation. Six of the ten states with the lowest Gender Parity Scores are located in the South (Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee). In contrast, the Northeast and West lead the country in women’s representation, containing nine of the 10 highest ranked states (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington).

As the Northern Mariana Islands do not have statehood, they did not receive a formal Gender Parity Score, but the GPI Report still tracks their progress toward parity. Unfortunately, their progress is only marginal. The Islands have never elected a female delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives or a female governor. Furthermore, just one of nine seats in the Northern Mariana Islands’ Senate and two of 20 seats in the territory’s House of Representatives are held by women.

In order to make progress toward achieving gender parity, the Northern Mariana Islands must elect more women to its legislature and to the position of governor by recruiting and encouraging female candidates.

Source: http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/96151-a-long-road-ahead-gender-parity-in-elected-office-in-the-nmi 

Representation2020, a nonprofit that advocates for institutional reforms to level the playing field for women candidates, enabling them to run, win, serve, and lead effectively, has released its latest analysis on the underrepresentation of women in elected office, quantified through the Gender Parity Index (GPI). The GPI rates women’s recent electoral success at the local, state, and national levels, and the 2017 report finds that women are underrepresented at all levels of government.

According to the group, as of June 2017, the median Gender Parity Score is 18.6 out of 100, barely up from the 2015 score of 18.1. The GPI ranks New Hampshire first and Mississippi last in women’s political representation. Out of all 50 states, 33 have a Gender Parity Score below 25, giving them a grade of D or F.

BY PAUL VIGNA  [email protected] 

Representation2020 has released its latest analysis on the underrepresentation of women in elected office, quantified through the Gender Parity Index (GPI), and Pennsylvania was given the second-lowest grade on it.

The GPI rates women's recent electoral success at the local, state, and national levels on a scale of 0 (no women in major elected offices) to 100 (women hold all such offices). These scores also translate to a letter grade, according to a press release that came out Wednesday. The goal of gender parity is a score of 50 and an A grade, which indicates that women and men are equally likely to hold office. The 2017 GPI finds that women are underrepresented at all levels of government.

As of June 2017, the median Gender Parity Score is 18.6, barely up from the 2015 score of 18.1. The GPI ranks New Hampshire first and Mississippi last in women's political representation. Out of all 50 states, 33 have a Gender Parity Score below 25, giving them a grade of D or F.

By Emily Eckelbarger | IDS Reports

Indiana has received a D grade for its representation of women in elected office, according to a recent report by Representation2020.

In the report, Indiana received a score of 16.4 on the 2017 Gender Parity Index, compared with an average score of 18.6 for the U.S. as a whole. Indiana’s score dropped, falling from its 2015 score of 18.7.

Indiana was ranked 32 in the country, trailing behind states like Arizona, California and Hawaii. States with the lowest scores in the country included Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky.

The GPI was calculated by tallying recent elections at local, state and national levels that placed women in office. Scores range from a zero for women holding no elected offices to 100 for women holding every elected office. The ideal score is a 50, which represents gender parity in elected office, according to the report.