What Women Need to Rise

Here's the good news: Women are now being elected to positions we were only dreaming of just decades ago. There are more women than men who are eligible to vote, and women are more likely to vote than men.

Here's the bad news: The odds of bumping into a woman in Congress are still just one in six. Altogether, the United States ranks an embarrassing 71st in the world in terms of women's representation in national legislatures or parliaments, out of 188 countries with direct elections.

To increase the good news and decrease the bad, we need more women candidates who stand for the majority needs and views of women, and those candidates need more early and dependable encouragement and support.

On both counts, we need EMILY's List. EMILY's List searches the country to recruit outstanding women candidates, and they give them the early money and consistent support they need to win. Indeed, that's where the name EMILY came from: Early Money Is Like Yeast. It's what women need to rise.

By electing more pro-choice Democratic women to office -- women who stand for the majority views of the female half of this country -- EMILY's List is making sure there are leaders in Congress to fight for equal pay and equity in health care and education -- and stand up on the issues that matter to women and children. EMILY's List gives progressive women running for Congress, governor, and state legislatures practical support every step of the way: recruiting them to run, helping them build winning campaigns, and raising money for their campaigns.

But EMILY's List can be successful in its work only if its candidates have the early resources to win.

EMILY's List has more expertise than most of us can garner. In the past 24 years, EMILY's List members have helped elect 79 women to the House, 15 women to the Senate, nine women governors, and hundreds of women to state and local office.

EMILY's List is already at work helping excellent women running for the Senate, the U.S. House, and governor in some of the most important races in the country, and providing that critical, early support that makes the winning difference.

All EMILY's List needs is a dedicated network of members. That’s why I am urging you to support EMILY's List today and help them reach their July 31 fundraising goal.

Click here to help EMILY's List meet their July 31 fundraising goal.

We know that women working together are beginning to change this country and the world. We just need to stick with our principles and each other.