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Women increasingly hold power in state legislatures

Legislative leadership roles are held by 58 women across the country, outnumbering last year's total by 20 percent.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 3, 2007

Female state lawmakers are moving into leadership roles in unprecedented numbers, overseeing their legislatures' daily business, shaping states' political agendas and, advocates say, laying the groundwork to get more women elected.

This year, 58 female lawmakers were chosen as legislative leaders - senate presidents, house speakers, presidents pro tem - a 20 percent gain over last year's 48 and more than double the female leaders in 2000, according to a count by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

At just 17 percent of all state legislative leaders, that's about one out of six, and far from reflecting overall population; women make up slightly more than half of all Americans.

Still, the gains come at a pivotal moment for female politicians, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running for president and Nancy Pelosi the first female speaker of the U.S. House.

"If you're not at the table, you don't get heard," said Massachusetts Sen. Therese Murray, a Democrat who made history in March when she was chosen by fellow lawmakers to serve as Senate president - the first woman in her state to do so.

Female legislative leaders numbered only four in the nearly all-male political world of the late 1970s. That figure rose in the 1990s to between 20 and 28 - still 8 percent or less of all legislative leaders.

But after 2000, the numbers began to climb: to 30 in 2001; 42 in 2003; 48 in 2006; and now 58.

"It isn't just about individuals," said Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project, a nonprofit group that aims to encourage women to lead in business and politics. "There has been a change in the country and the culture. The culture matters. ... You start to see women as leaders. You get comfortable with women, whether you like their policies or not."

Women have made gains running for governor, where the current total - nine - is tied with an earlier record.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 01:16:45]