February 2009
TO: Majority Council Members
FROM: Ellen R. Malcolm
DATE: Febuary 9, 2009
The campaigns begin. . . in New York, Missouri, Illinois, and beyond
Just as soon as we finished celebrating the inauguration of our new president, we got back to work at EMILY's List, looking for promising opportunities to put new progressive women in office. And boy, did we find them!
First stop: New York, where Governor David Paterson selected Kirsten Gillibrand, formerly a congresswoman from upstate, to take Hillary Clinton's place in the U.S. Senate. I couldn't be more delighted. Senator Gillibrand is a smart progressive leader who will bring energy and creative ideas to the Senate. The mother of two young children, she understands keenly the challenges facing working families. She is committed to reproductive freedom and equal rights for gay and lesbian citizens, and she's a leader on government transparency (she was the first member of Congress to post her full public schedule online for all to see). An avid student of policy, Kirsten is also a masterful campaigner -- she has twice won in a GOP-leaning congressional district, first ousting the incumbent, then beating back the former head of the state Republican party, who had previously won statewide office. EMILY's List backed her in both races, and we've endorsed her now, as she prepares to run in 2010 to serve the remaining two years of Hillary's term (she will have to run again in 2012 to win a full six-year term). Kirsten was sworn in on Tuesday, January 27, and is now the youngest member of the U.S. Senate.
Next up: Illinois, where EMILY's List has endorsed state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, in the fifth congressional district in Chicago. This is a strongly Democratic seat, making the March 3 primary the race to watch. Fifteen candidates filed to run, but of the top-tier competitors, Sara is the only woman. She has had a remarkable 14-year career in the state House, championing equal pay, family planning and choice, children's health care, gay rights, and labor issues. This race is on a very short timeline, so we are working overtime to help elect this outstanding progressive leader to Congress.
When Missouri Sen. Kit Bond announced he would not seek re-election in 2010, the first person I thought of was Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a dynamic, reform-minded leader who has cracked down on consumer fraud and safeguarded the integrity of elections in Missouri. I'm happy to report that on February 3, Robin announced her campaign for this seat -- and within a few hours, EMILY's List announced our endorsement of her.
Robin is a candidate with proven statewide appeal -- in fact, she won more votes in 2008 than any other candidate on the Missouri ballot, including the presidential candidates. When she ran for her first term in 2004, she was one of only two Democrats to win statewide in Missouri. Robin received support from EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program in both campaigns.
This will be one of the hottest Senate races of the 2010 election. Democrats need just a few more seats to get to the magic number of 60 -- enough votes to overcome Republican filibuster attempts -- and taking this seat out of Republican hands is key to meeting that goal.
Winning this race has personal meaning for me and other EMILY's List members, as well. Robin's mother, Jean Carnahan, represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate after Robin's father, Governor Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash before the 2000 election. Voters elected Mel over GOP Senator John Ashcroft posthumously, and Missouri's governor appointed Jean to his seat. In 2002, we backed Jean in her race against right-wing Republican Jim Talent. Talent narrowly defeated her in one of the closest elections in Missouri history. In a stroke of poetic justice, Talent lost four years later to Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill (also backed by EMILY's List).
In 2010, Missourians will have another opportunity to send a Carnahan to the U.S. Senate -- and EMILY's List will work our hearts out to help Robin win. It won't be easy; Republicans have a deep bench in this swing state, and will have plenty of resources to defend this seat.
We are also watching Ohio now that Republican Senator George Voinovich announced he won't run for another term, handing Democrats another promising takeover opportunity. Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has won kudos for reforming that state's notoriously dicey election process; we believe she would be a very strong candidate. Another potentially hot Senate race is brewing in Kentucky, where GOP Senator Jim Bunning is considered highly vulnerable to defeat and may retire; Auditor Crit Luallen is mentioned as a possible Democratic contender. And, in Kansas, GOP Senator Sam Brownback has announced he will not run again; Democrats are hopeful that Governor Kathleen Sebelius will run for his seat.
Finally, with 36 governors' seats up for re-election in 2010, we expect to see a lot of women step up to run for top executive office, like New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, the leading candidate to replace outgoing Governor Bill Richardson.
Electing women: a progressive goal in and of itself
Over the last few weeks I’ve written several items for the Huffington Post, a leading liberal blog. One of the themes I've blogged about is the fact that our nation is operating at a very serious deficit: women make up only 17 percent of our Congress. Here’s an excerpt from one recent post:
It's about more than just mere numbers. Having women in office is vital to the health of our democracy because women play a unique role in our society. By and large, women are still the primary caregivers in families, even as we have taken our place in the workforce. This is what we mean when we talk about the pressure women face balancing work and family: Mothers are typically the first line of defense when a child gets sick; adult daughters are by and large looked to when an aging parent needs care. All the while, families depend on women's paychecks to meet the rising cost of health care, education, gas -- life.
So when Congress puts together legislation addressing the economy, health care, long-term care, education, Social Security, prescription drugs, fuel economy standards -- you name it -- we need women at the table participating equally in the decisions that will have a profound impact on all our lives.
A token one, or two, or five, is not enough. I'll say it again, a little differently: For every woman in Congress, there are more than five men. Seventeen percent is hardly equal inclusion when women are 51 percent of the population. We lag far behind other nations. This abysmal ratio is a travesty and something everyone who cares about progressive values should take personally.
A few days after I wrote that, I had the privilege of witnessing President Obama sign his first piece of legislation: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Flanking him were the bill's lead sponsors, Senator Barbara Mikulski and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, both elected with EMILY's List support (Rosa was our first executive director), along with the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Cheering from the audience were many of the progressive congresswomen EMILY's List has supported over the years, along with activists who have worked so hard for this day. Everyone was beaming as we celebrated the first step toward change.
It was such a grand demonstration of the difference having Democrats in power can make! Under the Republicans, the Lilly Ledbetter bill was stymied. Bush threatened a veto, and Democrats didn't have enough votes to end debate and bring it up for a vote. Now we see our elected women leading the way, and our new president signing into law a bill that will guarantee fairness for women all across our country. We are right to feel proud of this accomplishment.
Back in the office, I recalled a very different picture: the day in 2003 when President Bush signed the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" ban surrounded by nine men in dark suits. What a contrast! Is there a better example of why we need the leadership of women, in Congress and across the country, to make laws that will truly have a positive effect on all our lives?
I'll be doing more blogging on this and other subjects on the Huffington Post in the coming months.
Celebrating the Power to Change!
Two days before the inauguration of President Obama, more than 2,000 people from around the country celebrated with EMILY's List at our Power to Change luncheon in the Hilton Washington. The all-star lineup of speakers included Speaker Pelosi, Secretary of Labor-designate Hilda Solis, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Our former executive director, Ellen Moran, took time out of her busy schedule as the new White House director of communications to introduce Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Governor Bev Perdue of North Carolina.
Time to renew our commitment to change
As you can see, we are extraordinarily busy at EMILY's List with special elections and exciting new candidates. The political force that you’ve helped build as a Majority Council member is in full swing, recruiting candidates, planning trainings, and conducting research to prepare for coming elections.
Meanwhile, Republicans and their right-wing allies are signaling every dark intention to block progress and thwart the efforts of President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Rush Limbaugh has told his partisan army he wants Obama to fail. And according to the Washington, D.C., daily The Hill, the National Republican Senatorial Committee recently made it known that they plan "to lambaste Democrats in a much more aggressive fashion in the 2010 cycle."
The only way to ensure that President Obama succeeds in turning our nation around is to protect, defend, and build on the spectacular gains we have made. That means holding on to our majority in the House and electing a filibuster-proof Senate.
We all know the changes we seek will take more than two years, so we must hold and even expand the political power of progressives to forge those changes. That's right -- the work we have done together is far from over. But I am confident that we continue to share a deep determination to rebuild a progressive America using the power of women.
We wouldn't be where we are today without your generous support. If you have not already done so, please renew your Majority Council membership for 2009. And if you have already renewed, thank you.
Save the date: 2009 Majority Council conference
Celebrate the hard-won victories of 2008 and learn more about the races I've outlined here at the 2009 Majority Council conference on Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8 at the Omni Shoreham here in Washington, D.C. We'll invite policy experts, women we've helped elect, and rising stars of 2010. Register by March 16 to receive a special conference registration rate of $350. Call 1-800-68-EMILY to register today! Stay tuned for more details in coming memos.