Success Stories

The Wisconsin Trifecta

A perfect example of the synchronicity between EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program (POP) and EMILY's List's efforts to elect pro-choice Democratic women to higher office occurred in Wisconsin. When Gwen Moore, now the first African American to represent her state in the U.S. House, gave up her seat in the Wisconsin Senate, she created an opportunity for Lena Taylor, who was then serving as a state representative, to move up. With help from POP, Taylor secured Moore's state Senate seat — and newcomer candidate Tamara Grigsby won Taylor's spot in the state House.

The Colorado 13: Making History in the Battleground

In Colorado, all 13 candidates backed by POP won — and Democrats took control of the state legislature for the first time in 45 years. Senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald, House Majority Leader Alice Madden, and other powerful pro-choice Democratic women leaders in Colorado are not only making headway on progressive legislation, they are also blocking far-right efforts to pass measures limiting reproductive freedom.

Up Through the Pipeline

When Allyson Schwartz won a hotly contested congressional race in 2004, she left open a safe Democratic state Senate seat in Pennsylvania, which was filled by former state Rep. LeAnna Washington.

Same Progressive Issues, Different Dynamic Leaders

In Florida, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's 2004 win made possible state House veteran Nan Rich's landslide victory in Wasserman-Schultz's old state Senate seat. Rich holds many of the same issue priorities as Wasserman-Schultz, including children's rights, education reform, and extended health care coverage

Rewind: Charting the Careers of National Pro-Choice Democratic Women Leaders

Most of the pro-choice Democratic women EMILY's List has helped elect started out at the local and state levels, serving as legislators, county commissioners, or in other key posts. Among the 80 women we have helped elect to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, or governorships, nearly three-quarters served as local or state elected officials, with half having served in their state's legislature. Seven of the eight women governors EMILY's List has helped elect held a statewide post prior to winning the governorship. For example:

  • Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow started her career at age 24 when she won a seat on the Ingham County Commission. She chaired the commission before serving in the Michigan House and Senate, then in the U.S. Congress. In 2000, she unseated GOP Sen. Spencer Abraham to become Michigan's first woman senator.
  • In 1960, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was appointed to the California Women's Board of Terms and Parole. She later won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and became its first woman president. Before winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Feinstein was the first woman mayor of San Francisco and the first woman party nominee for governor of California.
  • Rep. Nydia Velazquez was the first Latina to serve on the New York City Council before she became the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.
  • Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, the first African American woman elected to public office in Dallas, served as a state representative for five years before President Carter appointed her regional director of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1977. After winning election to the state Senate in 1986, she chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Congressional Redistricting, and helped to create district 30, a district where the majority of voters are black, which she now represents in Congress.
  • Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell served in the state House and the U.S. House before defeating GOP Sen. Slade Gorton in 2000.
  • Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire all served as state attorneys general before becoming governor.
  • Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner both came up through the state legislature and statewide office. Sebelius served four terms in the state House and two terms as state insurance commissioner. Minner worked as an aide in the state legislature, as the governor's receptionist, and then served four terms in the state House, three terms in the state Senate, and two terms as lieutenant governor before winning the state's top spot in 2000.