Dear Readers,
The team at RepresentWomen is working hard to discern how to meet this moment in our nation’s history – we are connecting with consultants to build internal capacity and hone our strategies for maximum impact. While we didn’t anticipate the political environment we find ourselves in, I believe our systems strategy approach to building women’s political power is now more relevant than ever.
I also believe that we need all the inspiration we can find so let’s celebrate the women leaders in our midst – this week’s milestones include the birthdays of Jeanne Massey, Ashley Thurston, Anita Earls, Angelina Grimke, Erin Vilardi, Barbara Jordan, Angela Alsobrooks, and Toni Morrison!
Author Toni Morrison, painted by Melanie Humble
Celebrating Presidential Candidate & Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm on President’s Day
Shirley Chisholm, painted by Melanie Humble
Shirley Chisholm was a member of the House of Representatives from New York City. In her time in office, she introduced over fifty pieces of legislation, including supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, creating the WIC program and expanding food stamps, advocating for abortion access, opposing the Vietnam War, and founding the Congressional Black Caucus and National Women's Political Caucus.
Most notably, she ran for President in 1972 -- becoming the first Black woman to run for the nomination of a major party in the United States. Even though her campaign was met with opposition from traditional Democratic party leaders, Chisholm advocated for sweeping, systemic reforms at every level of government to improve the lives of all Americans. Her often-repeated statement, “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair,” sums up Chisholm’s legacy: a bold leader unafraid to advance systems-wide change and pave the way for countless other women seeking to run for office in the United States.
This week’s Weekend Reading includes a piece by RepresentWomen staff members on women & the presidency, women & 2026 races for the Senate, Deb Haaland’s run for governor, women & mayoral races, the U.S. women’s soccer team, losses for women in the German elections, deep fake technology & women candidates, and a link to register for RepresentWomen’s virtual Democracy Solutions Summit from 3-5 p.m. EST, March 4-6th featuring an incredible lineup of women experts!
Why America Still Awaits Its First Woman President
Credit: RepresentWomen
This Monday was Presidents Day. Research Manager Marvelous Maeze and Digital Media Manager Ria Deshmukh wrote an insightful OpEd examining the deeply entrenched history of white masculinity and systemic barriers that keep women, particularly women of color, out of the Oval Office. The piece explores concepts like the glass cliff, misogynoir, and respectability politics, which create impossible standards for women candidates.
Read the full op-ed on Ms. Magazine:
Presidents’ Day often conjures images of our founding fathers, men whose legacies in history books portray them as heroic figures. Yet, these white men confined themselves to rooms of power, shutting the doors behind them and leaving the majority of society—women, marginalized groups and nonconforming individuals—without a seat at the table, effectively denying them power and influence.
No man embodies the archetype of leadership in American history more than George Washington—an American hero whose resolve to uphold slavery was so staunch and morally corrupt that he exploited various legal mechanisms to perpetuate the enslavement of Black people. These included (but were not limited to) the frequent transportation of enslaved individuals between his properties to avoid emancipation laws, leveraging gradual emancipation statutes to delay freedom for enslaved people, and ensuring the generational inheritance of enslaved people.
Setting Washington, our nation’s first president, as the bar for heroism and leadership has perpetuated a legacy that normalizes overly masculine, cruel mindsets and glorifies his role while ignoring the exploitation and dehumanization that defined much of his leadership. Although it is obvious these actions are a product of that time, what is less clear is how these actions evolved to stand the test of time.
The injustices perpetrated by the founding fathers are still being felt in today’s social climate, government and policy.
2026 Senate Races Offer Risk and Opportunities for Women
Photo Credit: Center for American Women and Politics
Women hold only 26 of 100 U.S. Senate seats, but may again lose seats in 2026, according to a new analysis by the Center for Politics. In today’s highly polarized electorate – with only one Senator from one party representing one of the 43 states seen as safe for the other party’s presidential nominee - the playing field in 2026 is small, with only three tossups, five lean states, and 27 safe contests. As the last Senator holding a seat in the other party’s presidential turf, Maine Republican Susan Collins will face a well-financed challenge if she chooses to run and turns back a primary challenge. Minnesota’s Tina Smith won’t see re-election, but Peggy Flanagan has announced her bid and is the early front-runner, and New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen is expected to join her. Five other Republican women are likely safe in the general election but may face primary challenges or retire, with West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito and Cynthia Lummis in their 70’s. For women to gain seats, more pressure will be placed on men to step back when there is a rare opening for change.
Deb Haaland Is Running for Governor of New Mexico
Credit: RepresentWomen
Deb Haaland, former Interior Secretary under President Joe Biden, announced her campaign for governor of New Mexico earlier last week. In 2024, New Mexico received a “B” score on our Gender Parity Index. It ranked fourth in the nation after electing both Republican and Democrat women governors in the last twenty years. If elected, she would be the first Native American woman governor of a state. So far, no other individuals of either political party have formally declared their intent to run for governor of New Mexico.
Ben Kamisar writes in NBC News:
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is running for governor of New Mexico, looking to be the first Native American woman to be elected governor of a state.
Haaland launched her campaign Tuesday morning in an online video after having hinted at an announcement for the last few days. In it, she leans heavily on her biography, opening the video by saying she learned after a childhood of moving around, having to raise her child as a single mother and working toward "35 years of sobriety" that "nothing comes easy" but that "here in New Mexico, struggle makes you fierce."
"When I became New Mexico's member of Congress and then the leader of the U.S. Department of Interior, I seized the opportunity to make change," she says.
"But the problems we face now are bigger than ever, and we must be fierce to solve them. That's why I am running for governor of the great state of New Mexico.
Prospects for Women in Upcoming Mayoral Races
Credit: RepresentWomen
It’s a big year for mayoral races around the United States. In. St. Louis, incumbent Tishaura Jones faces a highly competitive race, with a winnowing primary in March and general election in April, with city councilor Cara Spencer favored. Oakland’s ranked choice voting (RCV) system allows the city to uphold majority rule in one election, with former Congressman Barbara Lee drawing impressive endorsements. When Oakland started using RCV in 2010, it had never elected a woman mayor – a victory for Lee would mean that all four Oakland mayors elected by RCV have been women. Meanwhile, New York City has its second RCV primary for mayor in June, with a wide-open contest potentially drawing city council speaker Adrienne Adams in addition to state senator Jessica Ramos.
New York City’s New Majority Seeks to Build on Success for Women in 2021
Photo Credit: RepresentWomen
As RepresentWomen documented in its 2022 report Why Women Won in 2021, women had a historic surge in New York City’s first-ever ranked choice voting elections. Two women mayoral candidates narrowly lost debate being heavily outspent, while women went from only 13 women on its 51-member city council to a majority of 31, grounded in a combination of intentional action in recruiting women to run, public financing creating fair access for more candidates and ranked choice voting allowing more competition and rewarding unifying candidates. It made a substantive difference, with New Majority NYC issuing a report. With a woman speaker and majority, the council tackled overlooked issues involving domestic violence and health according to a report by the New Majority NYC. Last week New Majority NYC issued its endorsements for 34 women running in RCV primaries in June.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Coaches Calls for a Women-centered Approach
Photo Credit: Cait Opperman
The biggest challenge for measuring the impact of electing women as leaders may be that they are inheriting governing models and norms created by and for men - ones that emphasize competition over cooperation and hierarchical power over collaboration. I draw inspiration from the insights of U.S. women’s national soccer team head coach Emma Hayes, whose team won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics and is looking toward the 2027 World Cup. The New York Times’ Athletic recently featured Hayes’ goal to “reframe everything through the lens of girls and women in the sport, rather than relying on what has previously been built for men.” Hayes adds “Fundamentally, everything within our game has been centered through a male bias and a male lens. So I’ve challenged everybody across the federation internally to look at how they’ve been viewing the women’s game.”
Women Expected to Lose Seats in Germany Due to Structural Changes
Photo Credit: RepresentWomen
German political scientists Corinna Kroeber and Lena Stephan have a sobering analysis of the upcoming German elections in the London School of Economics and Political Science’s blog on European Politics and Policy. They explain that “While the proportion of women in the Bundestag stood at 34.8% after the 2021 election, the number of women MPs will shrink significantly after Sunday’s federal elections” and that “this is not accidental but a direct consequence of the new electoral law, which reinforces existing inequalities.” They explain that the loss of 100 party list seats, “is particularly detrimental to women, as they are far more likely to enter parliament through party lists than through direct mandates”, with women in 2021 winning 41% of list seats but only 26% of the seats elected in American-style single-member districts. They conclude that: “ In the long run, structural reforms are needed to ensure equal opportunities in politics. A legal quota for party lists would be an effective solution.”
AI Deepfake Technology Presents a New Barrier for Women Entering Politics
Photo Credit: RepresentWomen
The advancement of technology creates another barrier for women in politics. Deepfakes of celebrities are becoming disturbingly common. In Ireland, high-profile women like Amy Huberman, Kathryn Thomas, and Claire Byrne have been targeted, but the concern extends beyond celebrities, with countless ordinary women likely victimized in the same way. Creating such content is reprehensible, and sharing it publicly crosses a legal and moral line that should be met with harsh punishment.
Weaponizing female sexuality in political and social spheres is nothing new, but AI deepfakes take this degradation to another level. Lawmakers must address this issue promptly before it prevents women from participating in government on a large scale.
Simon Bourke writes for the Irish Independent:
In cases where the images and videos are shared to purposely derail someone’s political campaign, to sully their reputation, those found guilty should be treated in the same vein as the very worst sex offenders.
When first announced as a candidate for Fianna Fáil in November’s General Election, Gráinne Seoige was considered a strong favourite to, at the very least, gain one of the five seats on offer – with some predicting she might even top the poll. Instead, the former journalist and presenter finished a distant eighth in the polls, never once troubling the frontrunners and receiving less than half of the votes of her party colleague John Connolly.
At the time, Ms Seoige’s reluctance to participate in media events was said to be a determining factor in her performance, but an ongoing Garda investigation, first reported by The Irish Mail on Sunday, offers perhaps an alternative explanation.
In a letter sent to Fianna Fáil general secretary Seán Dorgan, Ms Seoige confirms that Gardaí are investigating the circulation of a fake AI-generated pornographic image of her which “were put together and distributed in an effort to damage her campaign”. An Garda Síochána has since confirmed that officers in the North Western Region “received a report in relation to the distribution of a harmful communication in November, 2024” and said the investigation is “ongoing”.
In her letter to Mr Dorgan, Ms Seoige criticised social media platforms for not providing sufficient protections for those depicted in images of this nature and asked for his help in ensuring “young Irish girls and women” did not experience similar incidents.
Carolyn Nicholson Terrell, February 18, 1921 – February 20, 2007, painted by Melanie Humble
This week was the anniversary of my mother’s birth & death. She was born into a orthodox Quaker family but had very innovative and open minded parents who introduced her at a young age to the beauty of nature, the wonder of books, the value of service, the gift of laughter, a love of the Pine Barrens, and the simple pleasure of sponge cake with raspberries and custard sauce. I think of her often but especially this week.
Thank you,
Cynthia Richie Terrell
https://www.representwomen.org/
P.S.
Stacey Abrams, former Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia in 2018 and 2022, founder of Fair Fight Action, host of Assembly Required (I was a guest on the inaugural episode), and a distinguished lawyer, author, and activist, will serve as the keynote speaker at the upcoming Democracy Solutions Summit.
Abrams will deliver the closing keynote on day two of the Summit, offering her insights on effective solutions to strengthen democracy. RepresentWomen is honored to welcome such a distinguished leader to this important event.
Register here – and please forward this invitation along to your friends, colleagues, and partners!
