The Importance of Women Running for Office

The year 2020 was unprecedented in many ways, as has been pointed out time and time again. One historic example of that which was unprecedented: 2020 saw an incredibly large female candidate turnout, with record numbers of women in all 50 states running for a wide variety of offices. 

It was thrilling to see how many women from both major parties decided to run. However, data from the Center for American Women and Politics shows us that although women are participating in politics more than ever before, it’s still not enough. Women still only made up 29% of candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and 23.9% of candidates running for the U.S. Senate. 

Women of color, young women, low-income women, and Republican women are among some of the most underrepresented women in politics. If we want the issues we’re passionate about to be taken seriously, we need to elect people who reflect both our identities and our values into office. In 2020, the Republican party did witness an 89.2% increase in the number of women campaigning to join the House. Despite this, Republican women are still widely underrepresented in political office. 

RepresentWomen, an organization that advocates for gender parity in politics, runs a database that compares the percentage of women in politics to the percentage of women in a population, and the numbers are disappointing. Women make up 50% of the U.S. population, yet we only make up 27% of the U.S. House and 24% of the US Senate. We only make up 31% of all state legislators, and 23% of mayors of cities with populations of more than 30,000 people. In further contrast, women of color make up 36% of the already meager number of women in Congress, and 26% of female state legislators. 

If we want the issues we’re passionate about to be taken seriously, we need to elect more women into office. Women have the ability to draw more attention to gender equity, and internationally women are more likely to propose legislation on family and child issues, as well as place more emphasis on education reform and healthcare. As Women Deliver notes, women in politics have the potential to increase constituent confidence in a democracy, and they are more likely to work with members of other parties and to be more available to the communities they serve. 

Despite this, data from a 2014 Brookings study shows that in the United States men are 10 times more likely to take a political science class than women, due to continuous gendered expectations society has for women’s interests, college majors, and careers. Women have been taught not to pursue politics, despite the numerous benefits women’s increased political participation would have. Our democracy functions best when people are educated about political affairs and empowered to participate in them. 

Although Indiana women from both parties gained seats in the newest General Assembly, Indiana still ranks 30th for gender parity in politics. This legislative session, several bills advocating for women’s rights have died in the Statehouse. House Bill 1011, Equal pay; wage disclosure protection, would have made it illegal to pay wages that discriminate based on sex. House Bill 1245, Pregnancy and childbirth discrimination, would have prevented the discrimination of pregnant employees. House Bill 1273, Sales tax exemption for feminine hygiene products, would have allowed menstrual products to be exempt from the state gross retail tax. The legislative session is almost over, and none of these bills will pass. If we want to see change, we have to run for office ourselves. 

Women4Change Indiana is excited to host our annual Ready to Run program, a non-partisan training initiative designed to help women run for office. The program will feature experts who will talk about their experiences in politics and government. The event is open to anyone interested in supporting efforts to get more women in office in Indiana. 

Women4Change is excited to engage a large community of Hoosier women who wish to get involved in local, state, and federal government. Please join us for the Ready to Run program on Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, 9:00am -1:00pm EST. The link to register can be found here.