April 11, 2023

Last week, CAWP released the latest data on women in 2023 state legislative elections in New Jersey, and the prospects for improved gender representation in the Garden State seem dim. While 98 (59D, 39R) women have filed to run for state legislative offices in New Jersey, a record number of women legislators are not seeking re-election in their current districts, with some leaving public office, some seeking other seats in the legislature, and some running for non-legislative offices. This year, 12 women are leaving their current office, three of whom are assemblywomen running for seats in the state Senate and nine of whom are leaving the legislature altogether. Over the past decade, women’s representation in the state legislature has increased by a net gain of just seven seats. Read our full press release on this data here.

CAWP Director Debbie Walsh contributed an opinion piece in the New Jersey Globe going over this data and what it will take for women’s progress in a state where well-connected insiders control candidate emergence. “Granting party insiders the power to give their preferred slates of candidates an unfair advantage by way of boosted ballot placement undermines the agency of New Jersey voters and stifles the political conversation that allows the best ideas and candidates to capture the attention of voters. It crushes the potential for new candidates to emerge in Garden State politics,” writes Walsh. “Since political insiders are disproportionately white and male, and outsiders are disproportionately women and people of color, these undemocratic party processes are a key reason that our politics is not fully reflective of our population."

Read the full piece on the New Jersey Globe website.

The deadline for the inaugural cohort of Ruth B. Mandel Dissertation Research Awardees is fast approaching — applications for this award must be received by May 1st, 2023! Thanks to the generosity of Ruth’s family in establishing an endowed Legacy Fund at CAWP, we are able to award up to four Ruth B. Mandel Dissertation Research Awards annually. These awards, of 2,000 dollars each, will support dissertation research on women, gender, and U.S. politics. We encourage applications from scholars who are traditionally underrepresented in the academy and 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.

Learn more about the Ruth B. Mandel Dissertation Research Awards, including information about eligibility, application requirements, and the timeline for submission and review, on the CAWP website, and start your application today here.