Dear Friend,
This week marks the first week of Women’s History Month, originally designated in 1987; the month takes on even more importance in light of the Administration’s actions to eliminate discussion on the role of gender. Many Congresswomen wore pink to the President’s address to Congress this week, signalling both their solidarity with one another and their support for women’s equality. March 8th is International Women’s Day, which is celebrated around the globe with tributes to women leaders and bouquets of bright yellow mimosa flowers that have become a symbol of women’s equality.
Suffrage Leaders painted by Melanie Humble
This week’s weekend reading debriefs our fourth annual Democracy Solutions Summit! It is crystal clear to everyone who attended that we must invest in and reimagine both how our democracy functions and who we choose to represent us in it. Women are undoubtedly equipped to meet this moment, build broad coalitions, find common ground, and fundamentally transform how government works at the local, state, and federal levels. The Democracy Solutions Summit touched on the many different strategies that need to happen to advance policies for the health and safety of our communities. Stay tuned for links for all three days, resources, follow-up events, and more!
Milestones for women this week include the swearing-in of Frances Perkins, who became the first woman cabinet secretary in 1933, the first International Women’s Day celebration in 1914, and the Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, DC in 1913. Birthdays of notable women this week include Beth Silvers, co-host of Pantsuit Politics; Ria Deshmukh (RW Digital Media Manager); port Amanda Gorman, RepresentWomen board member Amber McReynolds, Higher Heights CEO Glynda Carr, and Laura Liswood.
Amanda Gorman, painted by Melanie Humble
Day One: Laboratories of Democracy: Policy Solutions in Local Government
Day One of the Democracy Solutions Summit emphasized the power of local government. As Vote Run Lead’s CEO and Founder Erin Vilardi said in her opening remarks, “I want to make sure we all remember that democracy is an evolution, not a destination.” While the extent of the impact of local offices may be small, the communities it does reach are affected immensely. That is why it is vital that women are on the frontlines of democracy’s evolution via local office. Barriers for women in politics persist, and our fantastic speakers shed light on the solutions to address the barriers.
“Getting more women into positions of power, getting more women into government is both an indicator of the health of our democracy, and it is the means to maintain a healthy democracy.”
Vote Run Lead’s Founder and CEO
“The thing that they think keeps them from running for office is probably the thing that makes them most qualified to run for office… So just don't allow the noise of who you think, what you think keeps you from running because you're probably the ideal candidate.”
RepresentWomen’s State Partnerships Manager
“People understood that having more choice means they have more voice.”
- Candace Avalos
Portland City Councilmember
“For the longest time, we have 51 seats in the council, and there was no more than like 12 women in the council, and all those years that you know, been this great city. It's unimaginable that it took till 2021. How ironic or coincidental does that happen the same year that we implement ranked choice? It's not a coincidence. ”
- Ebonie Simpson
Executive Director of The New Majority NYC
Day Two: Effective State-Level Solutions
Day Two highlighted the importance of expanding democracy at the state level. Speakers discussed solutions such as state voting rights acts, fair legislative pay, and using campaign funds for childcare that can create sustainable leadership opportunities for everyone. Here are some highlights:
“We know that as more women are running for office, which is such an important piece of the puzzle. We also need to reform our system so that they're not consistently facing barriers throughout their time in office.”
- Alissa Bombardier Shaw
RepresentWomen’s Operations and Development Manager
“Over the last 20 years. The intentional changes made in Mexico and the adoption of gender quotas have led to a positive increase in women's representation at all levels of government.”
- Fatma Tawfik
RepresentWomen’s International Research Manager
“Local solutions matter; when state voting rights acts succeed, it's because they are built in partnership with the communities they're meant to serve. And when that's done right, you don't just create better policy, you create a stronger, more representative democracy.”
- Candice Batitse
Campaign Strategist and Senior Political Participation Organizer at the Legal Defense Fund,
“Defend democracy, not people who are trying to hold on to power.”
- Michelle Whittaker
Ranked Choice Voting Maryland’s Executive Director
“Ranked choice voting is a solution that doesn't fix everything, but is a heck of a start for actually fundamentally shifting power in our political system so that voters can actually have a say.”
Katie Fahey
- The People’s Co-Founder and Executive Director
“Higher pay can help to ensure women in marginalized communities can participate fully in governance and moreover, competitive salaries are necessary to attract and retain qualified individuals who reflect the diversity of their communities. So legislators should be compensated fairly for their time and their expertise and also just the demands of their job.”
- Marvelous Maeze
RepresentWomen’s U.S. Research Manager
Day Three Day 3: From Peak to Plateau: Building Women’s Political Power in Congress
Day three of the Democracy Solutions Summit was all about building women’s political power in Congress at the national level. Our federal government, from the officials we elect to the programs we depend on, are rapidly changing, and this was a space where experts came together to brainstorm bipartisan solutions to address these challenges. Some highlights from the day include:
“Women, as we all know, make up over half of our population. And yet we hold less than a third of Congressional seats…When women aren't at the table, as you all know, we lose perspectives vital to tackling our nation's most pressing challenges.”
-Rina Shah
Strategic Consultant, Media Commentator, and Entrepreneur; RepresentWomen Board Member
“So in addition to all of the complexities of administering [elections], these incredible public servants are also charged with the tremendous responsibility of securing that process. And while elections may be political, election security is not. Election security is national security.”
- Cait Conley
Chief Growth Officer, Hidden Level, former Senior Advisor to the Director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
“These are very simple structural changes that we must make [to get more moms into elected office]…Most people don't realize we have more millionaires in Congress than moms. Only 6.8% of our Congress members are moms of minor children. So we don't have people in office who are actually thinking about these things.”
- Liuba Grechen Shirley
Founder & CEO of Vote Mama
“So, there are two components to the Fair Representation Act. It would institute ranked-choice voting for Senate races and proportional ranked choice voting for House races. And that proportional representation element of it is really important to get that responsive, accountable governance.”
- Meredith Sumpter
President & CEO of FairVote
“On a practical level. If you want to make lasting change, you will always have the other side of the aisle on board.”
- Betsy Wright Hawkings
Managing Partner, Article 1 Advisors, LLC
The UK Models How Transparency Can Drive Toward Parity
Here’s an essential analysis published last month by our friends at the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) in the United Kingdom, which could be adapted for use in the United States to ensure greater transparency on the candidate selection process:
“How many women stand for election every year? It’s hard to tell. That’s because right now, parties don’t have to publish information on the diversity of their candidates. However, last month, the Minister for Women and Equalities, Annaliese Dodds MP, announced that the government would finally begin the process of enacting Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010. This is a major step forward for diversity in politics and a huge win for the ERS – we have been campaigning alongside Centenary Action to push for change since 2018. But what exactly is Section 106, and why is it important? Let’s break it down.
Enacting Section 106 would require political parties to publish diversity data on the people who put themselves forward as candidates for elections to the House of Commons, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Diversity data is information about candidates’ characteristics, including their gender identity. Despite the legislation for this already being written back in 2010, it’s now, after 15 years of inactivity, that this government is finally taking action….
Publishing data drives transparency, which in turn fuels change. We’ve seen this approach work before – gender pay gap reporting, introduced in 2017, was devised with this rationale in mind, and has led to greater awareness and steps toward pay equality. Section 106 could do the same for political diversity. By making the data transparent, parties can truly be held to account. If parties are forced to make this information public, they can no longer overlook representation gaps without scrutiny.
Election News - Women Advance in Key Local Elections
Angela Alsobrooks, painted by Melanie Humble
The United States will have a string of major local elections in 2025. Women had a strong start on March 4th. In Maryland’s Prince George’s County, Angela Alsbrooks’ election to the U.S. Senate last year created a vacancy for county executive. The Democratic primary was decisive, and State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy won by 22 percentage points over two men, former Executive Rushern Baker and Count Councilor Calvin Hawking. The general election is on June 3rd. Meanwhile, in St. Louis’ nonpartisan system, the primary in the mayoral race narrowed the field to two: incumbent Tishaura Jones faces an uphill battle in the April 8th general election against Alderwoman Cara Spencer in a repeat of the mayoral runoff they had in 2021.
Looking ahead, the June mayoral primary in New York City with ranked-choice voting will likely be the year’s most prominent election. In the wake of former governor Andrew Cuomo entering the Democratic primary, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams entered the race this week. No relation to controversial incumbent Eric Adams, New York City’s first-ever African American speaker, is expected to be a major contender.
ABA Report: What We Know About Ranked Choice Voting, Updated for 2025
The American Bar Association task force on American Democracy this week released a new paper by University of Iowa’s Caroline Tolbert and Expand Democracy's Eveline Dowling on what scholarship is finding about ranked choice voting. Here’s an excerpt.
“New research has examined RCV’s effects on voters (i.e., public opinion, voter behavior, and turnout), candidates, and political campaigns. This report reviews the recent literature published in peer-reviewed academic journals and books and answers common questions about RCV, addressing its efficacy and viability as a reform.
In sum, the research provides evidence that RCV is an improvement over plurality voting with clear benefits in terms of representation, campaign quality, mobilization, and turnout. Research shows that RCV encourages greater consensus building as well as more civil political campaigns. The research currently has more marginal or difficult-to-test effects in other areas, such as the diversity of candidates running for office. There are some mixed results from the published studies, in part due to authors emphasizing either the glass as half full or half empty, often based on similar data sources. As Drutman and Strano reported in 2021, “the research should also allay fears that RCV is too confusing or discriminatory: voters understand RCV, and learn to like it, too, particularly with experience.” That remains true today.”
Rob Richie and Eveline Dowling Launch Expand Democracy -- and a Democracy Builder Quiz
In addition to her ABA release, Eveline Dowling joined with my husband, Rob Richie,, to launch Expand Democracy, which will be an ongoing partner for RepresentWomen and others seeking a more representative, participatory, and accountable government. I was pleased to see that the Expand Democracy Board is majority women and chaired by former FairVote stalwart Lan Nguyen. Here’s an excerpt from Rob’s announcement on the Expand Democracy substack.
“Eveline and I do not intend to duplicate or supplant any existing organization. What will make us successful is helping others be successful. Our most impactful projects will be ones, where Expand Democracy’s role, ends as others begin. We seek to catalyze consideration of promising, but generally overlooked ideas and strategies - often ones involving thinking outside the box with bold, creative approaches….
Looking forward, we will connect people with ideas that deserve more attention, with regular gatherings to showcase what may be next for our democracy. We’ll bring stakeholders together for a time-bound series of meetings to resolve thorny puzzles that could be a barrier to change - whether it’s the best wording for pro-democracy constitutional amendments or legal strategies to keep promising ideas on track. We’ll work with retired election officials ready to offer advice on how to make good ideas in theory workable in practice. Eveline and I will regularly seize opportunities to write and speak about democracy, and work constructively with academic scholars as they study and write about electoral reform.”
Eveline Dowling this week wrote a piece explaining Expand Democracy “Democracy Builder Quiz.” Take the quick and find out if you’re an “innovator,” “connector,” “includer,” “mobilizer,” “strategist,” or “guardian!”
Oscars feature categories for women
Gender quotas are common in international elections but are often seen as unlikely in the United States. What has worked is intentionality – whether it be the terrific organizations doing candidate training and post-election support for women starting to climb the electoral ladder, or funding groups like EMILY’s List. I take heart from Americans’ embrace of gender differences in key areas of non-political life, whether it be overwhelming support for women’s athletics to the entertainment industry creating achievement categories for women.
In this year’s Oscars, Anora’s Mikey Madison won Best Actress over the oddsmakers’ favorite Demi Moore. At the same time, Zoe Saldaña earned her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez. Congratulations to both of them!
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Patricia Arquette winning the Best Actress Oscar for Boyhood. Arquette’s acceptance speech is one of my favorite Oscar moments, featuring this quote: “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
Mimosa flowers are given to women in many countries to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Happy International Women’s Day,
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P.S. Many thanks to all our amazing speakers at the 2025 Democracy Solutions Summit which would not be possible without support from donors. If you appreciated this event, please consider donating to support data-driven solutions to increase women's representation and build women’s political power.
