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EMILY'S List 20th Anniversary

When EMILY's List was founded in 1985, women were the ultimate political outsiders – running against the odds and the traditional political establishment. But EMILY's List has changed the dynamic for women candidates. Women are running -- and winning -- the biggest races. They are leaders in legislative bodies across the country, chairing important committees and playing powerful roles in party caucuses. Women candidates and EMILY's List have come a long, long way since 1985. And so it is with great pleasure and pride that we reflect on EMILY's List's 20th anniversary, and 20 years of changing the face of American political power.

Over the coming weeks and months, you will find new features and information on our website about the work EMILY's List has done over the past 20 years to help elect pro-choice Democratic women. You'll also find valuable resources about women and politics, from facts about women in elected office over the last two decades to trends in women's voting behavior.

Since 1985, EMILY's List and women's power in politics have both grown significantly. EMILY's List was created to provide a financial resource for viable pro-choice Democratic women candidates who were being ignored by the Democratic establishment. In ten election cycles, EMILY's List has helped elect 11 women to the U.S. Senate, 61 women to the U.S. House of Representatives, eight governors, and hundreds of women to state and local offices. Quite simply, EMILY's List has helped to change the face of power and politics in America.

When EMILY's List was founded in 1985, only four Democratic women in U.S. history had served as governor. Since 1985, EMILY's List has helped elect twice that number of pro-choice Democratic women governors.

When EMILY's List was founded in 1985, no Democratic woman had ever been elected to the Senate in her own right. There were only 12 Democratic women in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, there are nine Democratic women in the Senate and 44 in the House. And nearly two-thirds of the 66 women in Congress are Democrats.

When EMILY's List was founded in 1985, there was only one woman of color in the U.S. House. Today, 20 of the women in the U.S Congress are women of color — and again, all but one are Democrats.

When EMILY's List was founded in 1985, no women served as committee chairs in either the House or the Senate and only one Democratic women held a position of leadership within the House Democratic caucus. Today it's a matter of course that Democratic women hold leadership positions on committees and in the caucuses. Indeed, the top Democrat in the entire U.S. House is Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, while Senator Debbie Stabenow holds the third-ranking position in the Senate Caucus.

In 1985, women candidates were not taken seriously and could raise little money for their campaigns. While women were active in politics, they were most often in volunteer roles. Today, things are much different. Women have power, and they are using it — as candidates, as contributors, and as activists. And, as the power of women in politics has grown, so too have EMILY's List's member and political programs. The EMILY's List of today is a full-service political organization that, over the last ten election cycles, has become the largest political action committee in the country.

EMILY's List has more than 100,000 members who have over the years contributed more than $56 million to pro-choice Democratic women candidates. In addition to providing financial support for candidates, EMILY's List has an experienced staff of political professionals with expertise on every aspect of running successful campaigns.

EMILY's List runs one of the nation's premier training programs, dedicated to meeting the special needs of women candidates and ensuring they have well-trained staff for their campaigns, Since 1993, EMILY's List has trained more than 1,000 campaign professionals in management, field, finance, and messaging. In 2003, we branched out and adopted the Campaign Corps program to train young people with little political experience and put them to work on top-tier progressive campaigns. In the 2004 election cycle, EMILY's List trained nearly 2,000 people — candidates and staff, young women and men — giving them the skills they will need to run effective campaigns.

In 1995, determined to harness the power of women voters to elect Democrats, particularly women, EMILY's List established the WOMEN VOTE! program to mobilize women voters. In the 2004 election cycle, EMILY's List ran WOMEN VOTE! programs in 13 key states reaching out to millions of voters through direct contact, targeted television, mail, and radio campaigns. .

In 2001, EMILY's List established the Political Opportunity Program (POP) to elect pro-choice Democratic women at the state and local levels, where they are shaping progressive policy for millions of Americans and developing the leadership skills they'll need to seek higher office. In the 2004 cycle, POP held 40 training seminars in 29 states, training 1,600 current and prospective women candidates. EMILY's List also made direct contributions to the campaigns of 225 pro-choice Democratic women seeking state and local office. One-hundred and forty of these POP candidates won seats across the country — helping Democrats take control of six state legislative chambers and putting pro-choice Democratic women in key leadership positions, in some cases for the first time in history.

Since 1985, EMILY's List has smoothed the path to victory for women running for office, convincing the political world to take women candidates seriously and helping pro-choice Democratic women candidates achieve historic wins time and again. In turn, these victorious pro-choice Democratic women officeholders are making our representative democracy work better by adding their perspectives and leadership to a broad range of issues that matter to Americans. That, ultimately, is EMILY's List's greatest goal and greatest victory.

Ellen R. Malcolm

President, EMILY's List