We need to fix this - we have 50 states BUT currently there are only five female ...

[Tx4obama]

... only five female governors - and of those five only ONE is a Democrat !!!

Republican

Jan Brewer, Arizona (2009 - Present)

Republican

Susana Martinez, New Mexico ( 2011 - Present)

Republican

Mary Fallin, Oklahoma (2011 - Present)

Republican

Nikki Haley, South Carolina (2011 - Present)

Democrat

Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire (2013 - Present)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_governors_in_the_United_States

[applegrove]

1. Wow. In Canada half the provincial premiers are female.

[laundry_queen]

26. In all the largest provinces too

And we've already had a female prime minister. Women seem much more involved in politics here for some reason.

[ancianita]

48. Are you implying that half of ten who provinces is somehow better? The comparison is SO unfair.

[laundry_queen]

54. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

Please.

They are the largest provinces by population. They are the provinces that are the most visible when it comes to international relations and economic agreements. I think it's great that they all have women premiers. Does that mean I hate PEI or think less of it because it's small and has a male premier? Um It was an observation, that was all.

[Jenoch]

2. I read somewhere that

women were more likely to vote for a male candidate over a male candidate. The problem is about getting women to run for public office more than it is about voters preference.

[theHandpuppet]

34. The problem is also money

Women candidates need the financial backing of not only their party but campaign contributors. Being outside the "old boys network" can make that difficult. That's why my partner and I are supporters of Emily's List. http://emilyslist.org/

[Tx4obama]

3. And lets not forget about the U.S. Senate too - of the 100 seats only 20 are held by women

Currently, the 113th Congress has 20 female senators, the most in U.S. history.

Democrats: 16

Republicans: 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Senate#Women_senators_for_the_113th_Congress

[niyad]

6. and we have a whopping EIGHTY-TWO in the house

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives

[Tx4obama]

12. In the House: 82? or 78?

The first paragraph on that links says: ... there are currently 78 women (constituting 17.9% of all representatives)

I wonder if the list further down the page that says 82 includes some of those that were there only until January 3, 2013 - and left because they lost their seat.

But still 17.9% or even 20% is NOT enough

[sheshe2]

19. And we need to Vote Vote Vote!

GOTV 2014...

We rocked the vote before...lets increase our numbers. We were half, lets make it three quarters!

Lets do it!

[Tx4obama]

25. Yes Yes Yes! :)

[brooklynite]

4. Blame President Obama...

HHS Secretary Sebelius: former Governor of Kansas
DHS Secretary Napolitano: former Governor of Arizona

[Tx4obama]

7. No, I am not going to blame Pres Obama. Half of the US population is female.

This is 2013. We should have LOTS more female governors and LOTS more female U.S. Senators.

Even IF those two that you mentioned were still governors then it still would be NO where near enough.

[Bluenorthwest]

42. Of course CA rejected Meg Whitman for Governor because gender is not the whole enchilada

You seem to support Republicans being elected if they are women? Very much against that. Very much.

[Tx4obama]

55. Female republicans tend to vote better on issues regarding women than male republicans

For example: there have been many times in the U.S. Senate in the past where Republicans Collins, Snowe, and Murkowski crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats on an issue regarding women.

Of course if I had my way 99% of all elected offices would be held by Democrats
Would have to keep a couple republicans around to remind us of how bad they are.

[niyad]

8. yes, which is why jan brewer became gov. of arizona

[hfojvt]

44. Sebelius was on her last term anyway

Kansas has term limits, unlike some other states which seemingly have lifetime Governors, just three that I have lived in, for example South Dakota - Bill Janklow four terms, Wisconsin - Tommy Thompson four terms, Iowa - Terry Branstad four terms. Heck the only way Wisconsin got rid of Thompson was that Bush tapped him to be Secretary of HHS.

I do blame President Obama for one thing though, because I thought Sebelius had a good shot at being elected US Senator in 2010, and really her absence - the absence of a strong candidate has been devastating to the whole state party which lost a ton of seats in the state legislature in 2010. But maybe that reaction to 2008 was bound to happen in Kansas anyway.

[TDale313]

5. We should be able to do get a female Governor ...

In California. We've had two female Senators forever. Perhaps Kamela Harris? (When Gov Jerry Brown's done, of course)

[Xithras]

58. I like Kamala Harris, but I don't know that she could win the governorship.

She may be the state's Attorney General, but that doesn't quite make up for the fact that she has absolutely no local, county, state, or federal lawmaking experience. She's never so much as sat on a city council or local school board seat.

There's a big difference between enforcing the law, and actually being responsible for making it. If she were to run for governor, she would be blasted nonstop over the fact that she has no real experience, either in the public or private sectors. I've heard her name come up among Democrats as a potential post-Brown contender too, and I've always heard her limited experience brought up as a major pitfall.

Lots of people on the left also have reservations about putting a "law and order" criminal prosecutor in charge of the state, with all of the potential implications that go along with that. I know that Harris tends to be a bit of a reformer when it comes to crime, but in a state where a disparate percentage of minorities end up in prison because of our punitive legal structure, it might prove difficult to convince those same minorities to support a gubernatorial candidate who spent the past decade trying to lock even more people away.

She's great in her current job, but I don't see her becoming governor anytime soon.

[putitinD]

9. I really miss Jennifer Grandholm here in Michigan, now were stuck with the one term nerd Snyder

[davidn3600]

10. You got to get women to run

The problem is not that people are not voting for women...the problem is the lack of women willing to run for office.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/why-women-dont-run-office-much-men-do

[Dustin DeWinde]

11. by that reasoning

Does that mean that new Hampshire is in need of fixing since their entire congressional delegation is female?
Or better yet should we scream bloody murder because out of 50 governors only one is Black?

I don't think so. Pick your battles wisely. I am black and an extremely strident advocate for my peeps, but as an American I truly believe the voters are never to blame. If the better candidate loses its because he or she didn't communicate well enough.

Oh and kudos to nh for their pricing the best folks available. Ditto to MA for deval Patrick.

And if folks can convince Liz Warren to run for president she will get my vote..

[Dustin DeWinde]

13. *picking. i really hate that damned autofill

[Tx4obama]

15. Btw, there is a 'edit post' link in the bottom right hand corner of each post you post

You can click on that link and fix your post and then save the edit.

Thought I'd toss that out there in case you didn't know.

And welcome to DU

[Tx4obama]

14. At the moment the Republicans are waging a 'War on Women'

... regarding abortion/reproductive rights.

I will not apologize for wanting more WOMEN in Congress to represent OUR interests.
And also in the state legislatures.

[davidn3600]

16. If that's the battle you want to fight...

...you might first want to get your own side united.

You act like abortion is a male vs. female fight. I can't tell you how many times I see anti-abortion bumper stickers and a woman driving the car. There is a strong percentage of women that are pro-life.

[Dustin DeWinde]

22. ???

Don't really know of any liberals, or any decent people of any political persuasion who disagree with a womana right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term.

Fair is fair, their bodies their choice. Besides its not like there aren't more pressing political matters at hand leave the women their prerogatives.

[Tx4obama]

24. Yes, but it is mostly WOMEN that fight for WOMEN

See Comment #23

I'm not saying that there aren't any men (I can't think of any at the moment) - what I'm saying is that women normally fight with a passion for women rights.

Therefore the more WOMEN we have in the U.S. Congress, in Governorships, and at all levels of state and local government the better

[hfojvt]

46. so you would be fine with more Republican Governors, Senators and Representatives

as long as those Republicans are women?

Too bad we lost Governor Sarah Palin then and we are gonna lose Michelle Bachmann in the House.

Mars NEEDS those women dammit.

[Dustin DeWinde]

17. why should you apologize?

This is a discussion thread and I put in my two cents. No one is asking you to apologize for anything. Pick your battles wisely. Or don't , its a free country.

[awoke_in_2003]

21. The republican women are right there with the men. nt

[Triana]

18. Emily's List

http://www.emilyslist.org

Wendy Davis should be the next Governor of Texas.

[theHandpuppet]

35. Yes!

My partner and I are strong supporters of Emily's list.

[sheshe2]

20. Tx...we GOTV 2014!

[Tx4obama]

23. Just a few women advocates from off the top of my head: WOMEN Fighting For WOMEN

Below are just a few names from the past year or two of Women Fighting for Women

I'm sitting here trying to think of a few names of MEN that are fighting for women and women's rights and none are coming to mind.

On the issue of Women's Rights in my opinion the best advocates 'for women' are 'women'


Texas State Senator Wendy Davis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Davis_%28politician%29



California State Representative Jackie Spear

Kentucky State Senator Kathy Stein

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristen_Gillibrand
Military Sexual Assaults and Rapes

U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth

Sandra Fluke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Fluke



Cecile Richards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecile_Richards



Sarah Slamen



Lilly Ledbetter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter



Hillary Clinton

When Clinton left the State Department, it marked the first time she was a fully private citizen in thirty years. While she left without any firm plans for the future other than rest, she soon began work on another volume of memoirs (scheduled for publication in mid-2014) and she and her daughter joined her husband as named members of the Clinton Foundation, where she planned to work on issues regarding women and small children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_clinton

[sheshe2]

27. It's late and I did not watch the clips,

However let's not forget President Obama and VP Joe Biden!

[Bluenorthwest]

43. The best advocates for women are DEMOCRATIC women. Republican women are not good

advocates save for rich women.

[tabbycat31]

51. add the name Barbara Buono to your list

She's a fiercely progressive state senator who's taking on Chris Christie this year.

[JDPriestly]

28. K&R.

[Scurrilous]

29. K & R

[Freddie]

30. The next Gov. of PA

Rep. Allyson Schwartz
Of course that would mean one less woman in Congress but we need her in the Governors Mansion to start undoing the destruction Corbett has done.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. ^^^^THIS^^^^ but won't be one less woman in Congress because

Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky has expressed interest in running for what was HER old seat (that same 13th Congressional district that Allyson would vacate). That district is now almost solid blue.

Win-win.

[Freddie]

39. Yes! Forgot about MMM

My ex-Congressperson (we moved to Bucks Co.) and Chelsea's mother-in-law! Wish I could vote for her again.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. I wish Patrick Murphy would run for that 8th Congrssional seat again!

I am in the 2nd and one sis is in the 13th. Another sis is in the wacky 7th. Just sad.

[B Calm]

31. Republicans might have a few more women governors than

democrats, but what a difference! Sarah Palin or Jennifer Granholm

[badtoworse]

32. So what? Who's stopping the women from running?

In the end, it's up to the voters. If they want male governors, who's to say they can't have them?

Did you think about this before you posted?

[niyad]

40. perhaps you should read some of the posts upthread to answer your question. it is not exactly

a level playing field here in the patriarchy.

[badtoworse]

47. Politics is a highly competitive process and the object is to win elections.

How would you level the playing field without jeopardizing the chances of winning?

[niyad]

49. so you admit the system is rigged?

[badtoworse]

53. The system is what it is and I'm not denying that men have an advantage

I don't see that changing

[niyad]

60. so how do you feel about that?

[Tx4obama]

61. I believe it will change. It will take some time but it will. One day women will have the same...

... advantage as men.

With each passing decade...

1) more women graduate college

2) more women are becoming attorneys

3) more women are obtaining political science degrees and are entering the political realm

4) more women are waking up to the fact that republican men are a danger to our rights and we women are the best people to protect those rights

I can imagine that even possibly at the beginning of the next decade that the number of women might equal the number of men in the U.S. Congress.

[Little Star]

36. 4 of those women are in Republican states......

What the heck is wrong with us with only one woman in a Democratic state? Weird huh?

Just struck me funny.

[avebury]

37. Believe me, Fallin is no prize. nt

[lonestarnot]

38. AZ has a female, but not really a governor, an ignorant pug.

[JustAnotherGen]

45. Barbara Buono is running against

Chris Christie in NJ - but the party leadership and money peole are completely ignoring the campaign.

She's running as a liberal Democratic candidate - with a history in the state legislature of firmly liberal and progressive votes. But eh? NJ isn't sexy. And she's not nearly as 'sexy' as Booker . . . who is getting all the money for his Senate race.

[tabbycat31]

50. We have one running this year (Barbara Buono)

And her running mate is also female.

[One_Life_To_Give]

52. Cause Danial Boone was a Man

I dislike calling it "sexism" which is the common term. When it's a collection of gender norms and behaviors that influence why we see Leaders as Masculine. Authority figures have deeper voices, stand taller than the rest and have a statuesque chiseled presence.
While we expect others to be gentler and put other people ahead of them which doesn't really blend with the Ego that is common with politicians. Nor the thick hide that is necessary to survive all the mud slinging that comes about.

If all we try and do is increase the numbers of "female's" in office then many will be Maggie Thatcher types. And I don't think that should be the goal. Rather we need to address what being a "leader " should be and eliminate the dogma of male/female gender norms.

[Blue_In_AK]

56. Our last female governor didn't work out so well.

[joeybee12]

57. And those 4 Repukes are some of the more despicable

people on the planet.

[Jamaal510]

59. We could use not only more female leaders,

but more female leaders who actually have the best interests of women in mind. Having more Bachmanns and more Haleys elected to power are a big no-no.