September 17, 2024

Men are far outpacing women in the total amount contributed in 2024 congressional races, according to CAWP’s Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 project’s new nationwide analysis of donors to congressional races from the Donor Gaps: Demographics Analysis page:

• The total amount contributed by men to 2024 congressional candidates vastly exceeds the amount contributed by women. Men have provided 63% of all money contributed to congressional candidates with 37% provided by women.
• However, women fare better as a proportion of unique donors to congressional candidates than as a proportion of total money contributed. Women constitute 52% of unique donors to congressional candidates.
• Women are providing a higher share of the total amount contributed to Democratic than Republican congressional candidates. Whereas women have contributed 42% of all money given to Democratic congressional candidates, women have only contributed 29% of all money given to Republican congressional candidates.
• Women from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups are especially underrepresented as donors to congressional candidates.

Read the latest analysis from Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2024 here.

Voters in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District will head to the polls tomorrow to choose who will complete the remaining term of the late Donald Payne Jr. Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver is favored in this strongly Democratic district and, if elected, will serve until January 2025. Should McIver win, New Jersey will set a new record: the first time the state has had three women serving concurrently in Congress.

McIver is also running for the full term of this seat in the November general election. This new Garden State record could be immediately surpassed come November, thanks to the potential for additional non-incumbent women winning congressional seats in the general election.

Click here for current data on women’s representation in New Jersey.

Following our recent roundup of analysis from scholars and practitioners about gender and intersectional dynamics in election 2024, CAWP has now invited experts to weigh in on the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We asked our group of experts the following questions:

• How – if at all – was gender at play in the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump? And how – if at all – did gender intersect with other axes of identity such as race, party, or age - to shape candidate or moderator behavior or interactions, or potentially audience reactions?
• What aspects of your own gender research or programming were illustrated and/or evident in the debate? Explain.

Read what our experts have to say here. But we also want to hear from you! Share your responses with the CAWP team on Twitter and Instagram and let us know how you think gender and intersectional themes were at play in the debate.

Last month CAWP, in collaboration with 1st Amendment-1st Vote, hosted the webinar "Breaking Marble Ceilings: Women, Power, and the Mayor's Office" which explored the differences women make in local office. Co-moderated by CAWP associate director Jean Sinzdak and Rima Khan, a member of the Student Voices Team at 1st Amendment-1st Vote, the session included historical insights from Karen Greenwald, author of A Vote for Susanna: The First Woman Mayor, and a panel of women mayors from across the country, including Mayor Lily Mei, Fremont, CA; Mayor Michelle Romero, Henderson, NV; Former Mayor Diana Smith, Seneca Falls, NY; and Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Baton Rouge, LA. These trailblazing leaders shared their paths to office and discussed strategies for increasing women's representation in mayoral and municipal roles.

Resources shared during the webinar included:

• CAWP's data on women in municipal government
• CAWP's Teach a Girl to Lead resources page for women in municipal government
• Award winning author Karen M. Greenwald's teaching guides for A Vote for Susanna: the First Woman Mayor
• Details about each of our featured speakers

This program can be used in classrooms and programs to teach students about local office and women’s public leadership! The full webinar recording is available on CAWP'S YouTube page.