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We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy as we all grapple with the COVID-19 outbreak. As with many organizations, the staff at CAWP has moved to remote working during this period as we all do our part to
flatten the curve. We are extremely lucky to have this as an option in our work, and we know for many people this isn't a possibility. We hope that you'll keep those people in your thoughts and consider buying a gift certificate from a favorite local shop or restaurant, continue paying for services from small businesses that you aren't currently able to use like pet care or house cleaning, and reach out to your friends and family as we all try to adjust to our new reality of social distancing.
As a reminder
, Rutgers University has announced the cancellation of all public events on campus through April 15th. Unfortunately, this means that the Center for American Women and Politics' upcoming events, including the Ready to Run® Campaign Training, which was scheduled to take place this Friday and Saturday, March 20-21, and our Senator Wynona Lipman Chair Lecture with Karine Jean-Pierre scheduled for Monday, April 6, are cancelled.
The next Ready to Run® is scheduled for March 19-20, 2021. In addition, we are exploring options to offer some of the program sessions as webinars in the next couple of months; more details to come soon. The Lipman Chair Lecture will be rescheduled for the fall; dates TBA. Please visit
our website
to stay informed about CAWP's upcoming events. You can also check
Rutgers' COVID-19 information
website for the latest university-wide updates.
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The big piece of news from Sunday's presidential debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders: Biden officially committed to selecting a woman as his running mate, and Sanders said he was leaning in that direction, though in his case finding someone who is ideologically aligned is paramount. As always, CAWP hosted a live conversation during the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #GenderLens2020. Even though there were no women on the stage, it's still critical to pay attention to gender dynamics in debates, as Dittmar writes in her piece
Debate-Watching with a Gender Lens
. Catch up on the conversation by following
#GenderLens2020
.
Speculation has already started about who those running mates might be;
The Cut
, in fact, published their potential VP picks piece ten days before the debate, and their list includes former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Kamala Harris, among others. Another name floated frequently is former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who was mentioned by both
CNN
and
The New York Times
. In
Refinery 29
's piece, they cite
CAWP's recent media advisory
about our research resources about women and the presidency and vice-presidency and quote CAWP Director Debbie Walsh: "The energy of women activists, candidates, and voters drove a Democratic wave in the 2018 elections; it would be foolish not to try and harness that energy in 2020."
Warren Exits the Presidential Race
With Senator Elizabeth Warren dropping out of the race, only one woman remains in the 2020 presidential primary, Representative Tulsi Gabbard. In response,
Kelly Dittmar wrote on CAWP's Election Analysis blog
about Warren's exit, the persistently high bar set for women candidates as compared to men, and the work that is required of men in advocating for women's leadership in American politics.
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NOTE: Amid COVID-19 social distancing preparations, today's presidential and congressional/state primary in Ohio has been postponed; primaries in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois, as well as congressional and state primaries in Illinois, are thus far proceeding as scheduled. Upcoming presidential primary contests in Georgia and Louisiana have been postponed amid COVID-19 social distancing preparations; presidential and congressional/state primaries in Kentucky have been postponed. Find a running list of altered primary schedules
here
.
Last week, congressional primaries were held in Mississippi, and CAWP provided data about women in primary contests in the state. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R), the first woman elected to Congress from Mississippi, was uncontested in the GOP primary and is likely to win re-election to a full term in the U.S. Senate this year. This will be her first regular-cycle general election, after being appointed to the Senate, and then winning a special election, in 2018. Mississippi has never sent a woman to the U.S. House, and, while 2 (2D) women won major-party nominations in U.S. House contests, they are running as challengers in districts where their incumbent opponents are strongly favored to win. See full results
here
.
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New on the CAWP's Election Analysis: GOP Women in 2020
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CAWP Research Associate Claire Gothreau writes on the CAWP blog about GOP women candidates for the US House throughout recent history and into the 2020 election cycle, where there has been an increase in the number of Republican women running. She also analyzes Super Tuesday results, as well as victory chances from Cook Political Report, to take a look at whether increased candidacies will lead to increased representation in the next Congress: "As far as 2020 being 'the year of the Republican women,' the early data casts doubt on that." Read her full post
here
.
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Help us continue our work of elevating women's voices
in the political process.
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Christine Todd Whitman in NJ Spotlight
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Former New Jersey governor and friend of the Center Christine Todd Whitman was interviewed in
NJ Spotlight
about the ongoing problem of misogyny in New Jersey Politics, telling stories from her own career that emphasize the many obstacles to women's full political participation. As the piece pivots to a discussion of the future, NJ Spotlight turns to CAWP Associate Director Jean Sinzdak, who highlights CAWP's
Ready to Run®
national network of campaign training programs and the need to bring more women into the political process. The piece closes with Whitman expressing her disappointment with the lack of progress for women in presidential politics: "The time is long past for a woman president. I hope we break through soon."
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New from CAWP Partners and Friends
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Our Rutgers colleague Mona Lena Krook, a political scientist studying women and politics, is releasing a new book,
Violence against Women in Politics
, expanding on her research about global issues of women, politics, and violence. The team at Higher Heights for America is launching their inaugural Leadership Fellows Program, a nine-month rigorous and intensive Black women's leadership program that seeks to further Higher Heights investment in Black women's leadership. Learn more and apply
here
. In other inaugural news, the program director for our newest Ready to Run® partner, Ready to Run® Minnesota, was interviewed in local media about Elizabeth Warren's exit from the presidential race and how Ready to Run® prepares women for a political career. Watch the full interview with political scientist Angela High-Pippert of St. Thomas University
here
.
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CAWP at Hunter College Suffrage Centennial Conference
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CAWP Senior Scholar Kira Sanbonmatsu and former Visiting Practitioner Kimberly Peeler-Allen participated on a panel at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College suffrage centennial event, 2020: Gender, Race, Suffrage, and Citizenship. Their panel, Suffrage, Citizenship, and Democratic Engagements, examined "the future and examine organizations and movements whose aim is not only to defend our right to vote but also to help us imagine new ways to develop and nurture bold democratic engagements."
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The Economist
released their most recent glass-ceiling index, which ranks nations based on women's ability to engage with, succeed in, and become leaders in the labor market, measuring performance in areas like educational attainment, pay, and representation in senior jobs. The United States, unfortunately, ranks below the OECD average at 20th place. Want to learn more about the programs and organizations working to make women's leadership a priority? Head over to CAWP's
Women's Political Power Map
to find resources across the country and in your area.
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Center for American Women and Politics
Eagleton Institute of Politics
Rutgers University | New Brunswick
191 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8557
(848) 932-9384 - Fax: (732) 932-6778
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