'We Need to Shift Who Has Power in This Country': Cynthia Richie Terrell Knows How We Can Cultivate Gender Balance in P
(lengthy, informative, important read)
‘We Need to Shift Who Has Power in This Country’: Cynthia Richie Terrell Knows How We Can Cultivate Gender Balance in Politics
PUBLISHED 7/10/2025 by Carmen Rios
The RepresentWomen founder laid out how reforms like ranked-choice voting could double women’s representation in politics in the first episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward.
“There’s an appetite to take on the dysfunction in our electoral system,” Richie Terrell told Ms.
Cynthia Richie Terrell has worked as a political campaign manager and field director for candidates and initiatives at every level of government—but what she wants to win most is the fight to restructure our political system. After co-founding the nonpartisan organization FairVote with her husband, she launched RepresentWomen, an organization devoted to researching and championing evidence-based solutions to the challenges women face at every stage of the political process. (She also writes a weekly column on women’s representation right here at Ms.)
In the first episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward — a Ms. podcast exploring the history of the magazine and the feminist movement — Richie Terrell talked to Ms. consulting editor Carmen Rios about the vision of democracy she’s inspired by, practical strategies for advancing gender balance in politics, and what she considers the “gold standard” for equitable voting.
Richie Terrell is joined in the first installment of the new series by SheThePeople founder Aimee Allison, New Mexico state Sen. Charley Angel, pollster and leading political strategist Celinda Lake, and professors and experts in gender, politics, and the law Julie C. Suk and Jennifer M. Piscopo. Together, we explore the promise of a truly representative democracy—and the lessons feminist history offers for how we can advance a feminist future.
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https://msmagazine.com/2025/07/10/cynthia-richie-terrell-gender-balance-women-politics-ranked-choice-voting/