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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 5, 2018
CONTACT:
Mara Sloan
DLCC Communications Director
[email protected]
202.449.6740
February 5, 2018
CONTACT:
Mara Sloan
DLCC Communications Director
[email protected]
202.449.6740
NCSL Announces Women Legislators Cross 25 Percent Threshold
The DLCC is proud to continue highlighting and supporting strong women running for state legislatures nationwide
WASHINGTON — The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) announced in a Medium post that for the first time, the percentage of women in state legislatures has surpassed 25 percent. As the DLCC works to elect the best candidates to state legislatures nationwide, we are proud to support the many women legislators who flipped seats from red to blue in 2017, and continue to step up and fight for our values by putting their names on the ballot in 2018 and beyond.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Jessica Post commented on the DLCC’s commitment to supporting strong women candidates for state legislatures nationwide:
“It has been an exciting and record-setting year for the DLCC and state Democrats since Trump’s inauguration, and we have been honored to support many amazing women candidates as they fight to retake Democratic majorities in statehouses across our country and push back against the Trump agenda at the local level. Women candidates have been setting high watermarks and smashing glass ceilings in states like Virginia, Texas, Colorado, and beyond, knowing they have the DLCC and our partner organizations at their back.
“Since President Trump’s inauguration, the DLCC has flipped 34 contested state legislative seats from red to blue, and 22 of those were flipped by Democratic women. DLCC Spotlight candidates like WI Sen.-elect Patty Schachtner, WA Sen. Manka Dhingra, and VA Delegates Jennifer Carroll Foy, Elizabeth Guzman, Danica Roem, and Kathy Tran and so many countless others have shattered glass ceilings and built on the incredible momentum that the DLCC is proud to bring into 2018 as we head toward the November midterms. While today’s news is certainly noteworthy, we know we still have an uphill battle ahead to elect more Democratic women in order to have equal gender representation in our state legislatures.”
The DLCC’s Spotlight Races page, which lifts up some of the most engaging candidates and critical legislative races happening across the country, currently features 52 candidates – 36 of whom are women. Some of these strong women candidates include:
- Margaret Good, who is running in a February 13 special election to flip Florida House District 72 from red to blue and was just endorsed by Vice President Joe Biden.
- Linda Belcher, who is running in a February 20 special election to flip Kentucky House District 49 from red to blue.
- Brittany Pettersen, an experienced public servant in the Colorado House of Representatives who can help Democrats retake the majority in the state Senate by securing Senate District 22.
- Anna Eskamani, who is running to flip Florida House District 47 and who would be the first Iranian-American to serve in the Florida legislature.
- Rachel Crooks, who in 2016 shared her story of victimization by Donald Trump, is also featured on the site as a candidate for Ohio House District 88. The site is regularly updated and more Democratic women will be added to the page as the cycle progresses.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is the only organization exclusively committed to electing Democrats to state legislatures all over the country and winning Democratic control of chambers. For over two decades, the DLCC has been working with state legislative leaders to invest strategically in state programs, which has led to Democrats flipping 34 contested seats since Trump’s inauguration. The DLCC is building on Democrats’ winning momentum and continues to lay the groundwork for substantial gains in 2018 in statehouses nationwide. State Democrats recently scored critical victories in Washington, Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, New Hampshire, Georgia, and elsewhere, while also leading the resistance against the Trump administration’s extremist policies. You can learn more about critical upcoming elections and follow DLCC’s Spotlight Races at races.dlcc.org.
For more information or to schedule an interview with the DLCC, please contact Mara Sloan at [email protected].
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