Val Demings

Our WOMEN VOTE! programs has been very busy this year. But there’s no sleep ‘til Election Day for EMILY’s List and WOMEN VOTE!, as they launched a new voter education program aimed at independent women in battleground states from coast to coast.

Last month, we introduced our first findings of our 2012 WOMEN VOTE! Research, where we learned that women do not believe Washington is working for families like theirs. And now, we‘re back with more research that we think you’ll find fascinating.

EMILY’s List candidate Tammy Duckworth (IL-08) piloted a Black Hawk helicopter when it was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq. She lost both her legs and part of her arm in the blast, but she landed the helicopter successfully. Val Demings (FL-08) was the daughter of a janitor who grew up to be Orlando’s first-ever female Chief of Police. While she was chief, the city’s violent crime rate dropped by 40 percent.

Sports were a huge part of my life growing up in Montana. I was a Butte High Bulldog and I was proud to wear Butte High purple. I also know I was lucky to wear Butte High purple, because I was born after Title IX was written.

We’re stoked about our candidates running for national office this year and we’re even more excited to help bring these incredible women to Washington this November. From crime fighting, to technology, to Twilight: check out these eleven tidbits of trivia you might not find anywhere else on the campaign trail!

Did you know?

For much of our history, domestic violence was viewed not as a matter for law enforcement but as a personal or family matter. Because of that communities often stood by while women and men were being hurt or murdered. Finally, those laws have changed. Today, my former police department in Orlando has a zero tolerance policy on domestic violence. If you batter your significant other you will be arrested and you will go to jail.