May 13, 2025

Today, we released the culminating report in our Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 series tracking gender and fundraising during last year’s elections. Final Analysis: 2024 Women, Money, & Politics Watch analyzes campaign finance data for all 2024 congressional and state elections by candidate gender, race and ethnicity, and party, revealing key differences in political fundraising between women and men as candidates and donors. The report also identifies obstacles and opportunities for women candidates in this critical domain of political strategy.

“As election costs rise alongside party competition, resources are increasingly integral to running successful campaigns. The 2024 election showed that women are formidable fundraisers,” said CAWP Senior Scholar and lead author Kira Sanbonmatsu. “At the same time, women and men raise money differently, in both congressional and state elections. We found that women’s voices aren’t heard to the same extent as men’s in terms of the money contributed to candidates.”

Check out our full analysis and explore the story through interactive infographics here.

What can women candidates take away from the 2024 elections as they gear up for the next cycle? In her new piece for Campaigns & Elections, CAWP Senior Scholar Kira Sanbonmatsu breaks down five fundraising lessons from our Final Analysis: 2024 Women, Money, & Politics Watch report, including how small-dollar donations continue to be a strength for women candidates and how gender and party shape patterns in self-financing. Sanbonmatsu also highlights the untapped potential of women donors and the importance of expanding representation across donor networks, especially for Republican women and candidates of color. It’s an important read for anyone planning or advising a run in the next election cycle.

The deadline to apply for the 2025 Ruth B. Mandel Dissertation Research Awards is in two days – May 15, 2025! Established in honor of CAWP co-founder and director Ruth B. Mandel and made possible thanks to the generosity of Ruth's family, the awards support dissertation research on women, gender, and U.S. politics.

Advanced doctoral students at U.S.-based institutions who have defended their dissertation proposal are eligible. Up to four awards are given annually, with at least one designated for a Rutgers University student. We encourage applications from scholars who are traditionally underrepresented, and we welcome applications for research that analyzes gender in addition to or in conjunction with other categories such as race/ethnicity, class, immigration status, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

Book Spotlight: A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer

As part of her national book tour, author Kimberly Heckler recently visited CAWP Senior Scholar Kira Sanbonmatsu’s undergraduate Women in American Politics class to discuss her new biography A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer. The book chronicles the life and legacy of the late Margaret Heckler, the first and to date only woman in U.S. history to serve in Congress, a presidential cabinet, and as a U.S. ambassador. Jean Sinzdak, CAWP's associate director, was honored to contribute the forward to this important biography that honors a political trailblazer who helped lay the groundwork for the progress women in politics have made over the last forty years.

U.S. Ambassador Heckler’s legacy includes her legislation giving women the right to their own credit, her role in convincing presidential nominee Ronald Reagan to appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice, and co-sponsoring Title IX, which aimed to provide equitable opportunities for women in education and to level the playing field between men and women. She also transformed healthcare with the "Heckler Report," which tackled health disparities faced by minority groups and worked tirelessly to dispel the hysteria surrounding the AIDS epidemic and to find a cure. Interested in the book? Click here.