Resistance inspires 1000 percent increase in women running for office

April 24, 2017

Shareblue: Resistance inspires 1000 percent increase in women running for office

by Alison R. Parker

It has been clear since the morning after the election last November that women across the country were not going to let a devastating result be the sole and final story.

Indeed, women have been leading the resistance, and they are already making a difference as concerned and vocal citizens. But thousands of them are not stopping there.

Merely one month ago, EMILYs List announced that over 10,000 women had contacted their organization wanting information and assistance to run for political office. At the time, the organization’s president, Stephanie Schriock, noted that “Over ten thousand women isn’t a ripple — it’s a wave.” That is an astronomical increase from the last cycle, when 900 women contacted the organization about running for office.

And it is still building. An EMILYs List official told Shareblue:

This is unprecedented. Republicans are right to be worried. We’re going to see a wave of Democratic women running for office — EMILYs List has heard from over 12,000 interested women since Election Day — and there’s no sign this will slow down.

Democrats are already seeing polling and electoral impact from the nation’s disgust with Donald Trump and his administration, from such unlikely places as Georgia and Kansas, and across the country.

And with these 12,000 women — and counting — eager to join others in city halls, state houses, and Washington, D.C., that impact is sure to keep growing.

Perhaps conservatives thought women were warned by the presidential election results. But nevertheless, we have persisted.