Why did you run?

EMILY's List candidates frequently are asked the same question: "Why did you run for office?" Their answers are smart, surprising, sometimes funny, and often moving. Read on to see how some of EMILY's List women got their start in politics.

If you're a woman who has decided to run, please share your story by contacting us here.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, California

In a 2005 interview with The Progressive, Boxer explained her decision to enter politics:

"When John Kennedy was assassinated I was twenty-three...and I never ever thought that politics would be anything that I would be a part of. But I realized that I had to get involved. Then, when Martin Luther King was assassinated and the Vietnam War was raging, I felt that my world was falling apart... I just said, 'I have to make it better.'"

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota

A Marie Claire article explained how, after her daughter was born with a frozen palate that caused swallowing problems, Amy Klobuchar chose to take action through politics:

While the baby stayed at the hospital, Klobuchar was discharged after 24 hours because it was all her health plan would cover. Outraged, she lobbied state lawmakers successfully for a law to guarantee new mothers 48 hours at the hospital. Klobuchar said of the experience, “When my daughter was born, she was very sick. No one knew what was wrong, and then I was kicked out of the hospital after 24 hours because that was the rule. I wasn’t in elected office at the time -- I was a lawyer at a law firm -- but I went to the legislature and got one of the first bills passed in the country guaranteeing new moms and their babies a 48-hour hospital stay. Seeing that you can actually get something done as a citizen in the legislature gave me faith that government could get things done. And so a few years later, I ran for county attorney, and I won that election.”

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Maryland

In a profile of the senator in Congressional Quarterly, Mikulski explains how, while still working as a social worker, she became involved in a local campaign to protect a number of Baltimore neighborhoods. That work launched her interest in politics:

“I didn’t come to politics by the traditional male route, being in a nice law firm or belonging to the right clubs. Like most of the women I’ve known in politics, I got involved because I saw a community need.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Michigan

In an article in Marie Claire, Stabenow answers the question of why she ran for office:

“I remember one county meeting where the county commissioner was ridiculing those of us who were concerned with low-income senior citizens, and it just made me mad. Everyone came up to me and asked me why I didn’t run against him. I was 24. He was a very entrenched incumbent who referred to me as ‘that young broad.’ This made me have even more resolve. My tenacity kicked in.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, CA-35

A HistoryMakers biography of Waters outlines how she became involved in politics:

In 1966, she was hired as an assistant teacher with the newly formed Head Start program in Watts. She became the voice for frustrated Head Start parents. Her efforts encouraged these parents to make federal budget requests, to contact legislators and agencies for increased funding, and to lobby for Head Start components tailored to their community. In 1976, she successfully ran for election to the California State Assembly.

Rep. Grace Napolitano, CA-38

A profile of Napolitano in Congressional Quarterly describes how she got started in politics:

She became politically active as a volunteer in Norwalk’s efforts to cultivate a sister-city relationship with Hermosillo, Mexico. She joined the effort to show her children and "other youngsters on this side how lucky they were." She launched her first political campaign for city council with $35,000 she borrowed against her home and won by just 28 votes.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, FL-20

In an article in Marie Claire, Wasserman Schultz said of her decision to run for office:

“I was working as a legislative staffer when I was 24 years old and realized that the voice of young women of my generation was basically absent from the debate surrounding important issues. I ran for the Florida House at 25 and was elected to serve with colleagues who were old enough to be my parents and my grandparents!”

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, IL-09

A Congressional Quarterly profile tells the story of how Schakowsky got her start in politics:

A community activist for more than 25 years before entering Congress, she was a stay-at-home mother in the early 1970s when she helped launch a successful nationwide campaign to require freshness dates on food products. She continued as a community activist and was elected to the Illinois House in 1990.

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, NH-01

Shea-Porter's House biography explains the experience that inspired her to run for Congress:

Shea-Porter decided to run for Congress after serving for over a month as a volunteer in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. She saw first-hand the inadequate response of the federal government to meet the needs of citizens after this tragedy and decided that the voice of hard working families needed to be heard in Washington.