“Allowing parents to use campaign funds for child care, we will see a more diverse field of candidates,” said Payne, mother of four young children.
This legislative session, Utah Reps. Craig Hall and Stephanie Pitcher introduced nearly identical proposals to clarify that child care is an allowable campaign expense, and they told a House committee that they’re jointly pushing forward with the version sponsored by Hall. The measure, HB129, sailed through the House Government Operations Committee with unanimous support Tuesday, setting it up for a vote on the chamber floor.
“There are so many wonderful individuals in this state, so many great leaders, and they shouldn’t be discouraged from running for office simply because they have child-care responsibilities,” Hall, R-West Valley City, said.
"It took us 100 years to get 100 women,” said Brazile of the 127 women currently serving in Congress, noting that the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920, is only months away. “Are we going to wait another 100 years? I don’t know about you but I don’t have that much time,” said the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee.
“We need Republicans. As a Democrat, I preach that,” Brazile said. Why? Among other reasons, women in office increase the chances of compromise, Brazile and Perino said.
“The Republican party, this is no secret, has a problem,” Perino said, referencing the results of the 2018 midterm election when a record margin of women voted for Democrats over Republicans.
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker had a nice roundup of the women candidates who have declared their intention to run for the democratic presidential nomination:
We’re twenty-two months away from Election Day, but the 2020 Presidential race has already begun—and it features a fascinating group of female candidates. This week, we’re bringing you pieces about some of these women, one of whom may be sitting in the Oval Office in two years’ time. Jeffrey Toobin profiles Elizabeth Warren, in “The Professor,” and, in “The Warren Brief,” Jill Lepore explores her views about corruption and inequality. Benjamin Wallace-Wells explains how Kamala Harris transformed from a prosecutor into a politician, and Evan Osnos chronicles the rise of Kirsten Gillibrand, who is “known for a near-evangelical confidence in the prospect of bipartisanship, in the restoration of the Senate, and in herself.” Kelefa Sanneh meets Tulsi Gabbard, the young, unorthodox representative from Hawaii who, if she won, would be our first Hindu President. And, finally, in a piece from 1928, Russel Crouse tells the story of Victoria Woodhull, who became the first woman to run for President, in 1872, as the nominee of the Equal Rights Party. Last year’s midterm elections saw an unprecedented number of women win seats in Congress. Contemplating the strengths of the women who have announced their candidacy for President so far, it’s easy to see how the 2020 election could be similarly historic.
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