appoint a woman -- miami herald 11/29/05

Appoint a woman

Re the Nov. 22 story South Florida pushes for Latin senator: Thank you for mentioning that New Jersey Governor-elect Jon Corzine is considering a woman to appoint to his seat in the U.S. Senate. New Jersey does not have one woman in Congress, even though it is the ninth most populous state.

Women elected Jon Corzine on Nov. 8. Now they should ask why the Democratic Party says incessantly to us, ''You're critical in the election,'' then does next to nothing to elect more women in the quest for equal representation in Congress, where women hold a measly 15.2 percent of the seats. If women's votes are so critical, here is the situation to show that the party is there for women.

It's nice that South Florida Hispanics feel that they have a friend in New Jersey Democrat Rep. Bob Menendez. But that has nothing to do with representation in the U.S. Senate for the people of New Jersey. Corzine should elevate state Sen. Nia Gil to his seat, and the Democratic Party should pull out all the stops to keep her there.

PAULA XANTHOPOULOU, Miami