Vote Run Lead's new "Charting Paths to a Women's Majority" offers vision and strategies for winning 51% of seats in every state legislature
NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Women are 51% of the population, but are underrepresented in our state governments, as only 33% of legislators across the U.S. are women. Nonprofit organization Vote Run Lead trains women to run for political office and win. With data-driven methods, Vote Run Lead has developed a visionary strategy for achieving a fair and reflective democracy in every state. This plan is presented in a NEW web-based resource: "Charting Paths to a Women's Majority" (womensmajority.org). This groundbreaking data visualization shows how to accelerate almost every state's path to achieving a women's majority in statehouses nationwide within just 10 years — NOT the 100 years projected at the current pace of change!
Charting Paths to a Women's Majority examines the effects of three factors: 1) the rate at which women run for open seats; 2) the win rate of women versus men; and 3) incumbent advantage. The data demonstrates that running for all open seats gives the best path to success because 1) there are many such opportunities, 2) the success rate for women in a race is comparable to men, and 3) once in office, the incumbency advantage protects women against challengers of any gender. Some key findings:
- Of the 1,600 open legislative seats in 2022, there were more than 500 seats with no women campaigning to fill them, so they all went to men by default.
- Specifically, women gained 122 seats in 2022, but did not enter races for 518 open seat opportunities — so that's four times as many missed opportunities as seats gained.
- When women run for open seats, they win at equal rates to men, raising the question: If women had run for all those open seats, could there be another 260 female legislators in office right now?
- Historically, men have dominated statehouse races, running for 93% of open seats, while women have run for only 69% — leaving 31% of open seats without any female candidates.
- Recently, 76% of districts had incumbents running for reelection, leaving 24% of those seats open. Of incumbents who ran again, 27% went completely unchallenged).
"Vote Run Lead invites every woman to consider the possibilities that 'Charting Paths to a Women's Majority' presents," said Sabrina Shulman, chief political officer at Vote Run Lead. "Seeking out and running for open legislative seats could bring us to a woman-led future faster than voters and candidates may have ever imagined. 2024 presents big opportunities for change. If we can get more women in office to achieve more reflective representation, we can transform the way our states are governed — improving the lives of women and marginalized people across the country."
Why majorities?
Vote Run Lead's mission is creating a reflective democracy: As women are 51% of the population, they should hold at least 51% of statehouse seats. In 2022, women won an additional 122 legislative seats — historically significant, but still only a 2% increase. Vote Run Lead urges greater action.
Erin Vilardi, CEO and founder of Vote Run Lead noted, "Women continue to make gains year over year, but 2% growth is simply not fast enough. The journey to a democracy that is 'for the people, by the people' means women at the helm with 51% representation. We are demonstrating the path to get there through our analysis of open seats and the key role they play in rapidly accelerating women's representation. We developed 'Charting Paths to a Women's Majority' to show party leaders, future female candidates, and political supporters that we must invest in women running for open seats. With statehouses controlling more and more of our everyday lives and decisions, it is critical that we hasten the number of women who lead them."
A path for every state
Vote Run Lead asserts that every state has the possibility to achieve a reflective democracy. Some states are closer than others. As examples:
- Colorado: This legislature is only four seats away from a women's majority. There were eight open seat opportunities in Colorado last year with no women running, so that's twice as many seats as needed for majority.
- In Georgia, there recently were three times as many unchallenged incumbents as unseated incumbents.
- West Virginia has one of the lowest women's representation percentages in the country with only 13.4% of legislators. At its current pace of change, it won't achieve majority for 263 years. However, Vote Run Lead is confident that even West Virginia could achieve fair representation in just eight years(!) with dedicated, adequate support and strategic campaigning.
Check out womensmajority.org today to find a faster path to a women's majority and a better future for everyone!
Want to see what's possible in YOUR state? Go directly to any individual state's analysis by putting the two-letter state abbreviation at the end of the website address (URL). Examples: womensmajority.org/state/ny for New York or womensmajority.org/state/ca for California.
About Vote Run Lead
Vote Run Lead trains women to run for office and win. With more than 55,000 women reached by its programming, Vote Run Lead is the largest and most diverse nonprofit training and campaign leadership program in the country and is focused on improving women's representation in America's statehouses. Vote Run Lead was founded by Erin Vilardi, formerly of The White House Project, and the organization seeks to unleash the political power of women as voters, candidates and leaders to create an equitable democracy. To learn more, sign up for VRLHQ, explore Charting Paths to a Women's Majority, donate, or get involved, visit voterunlead.org, vrlhq.org or womensmajority.org or follow on X/Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram, all at @VoteRunLead.
Media Contact
Jenifer Howard, Vote Run Lead, 1 203-273-4246, [email protected], https://www.voterunlead.org
SOURCE Vote Run Lead
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