David Wu adds name to Disgraced Congressmen list!

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Reports out of Oregon state reveal that that 56-year-old Rep. David Wu (D) has been called out for an "unwanted sexual encounter" with an 18-year-old -- not the first time the congressman has been cited for inappropriate behavior. According to the Washington Post, he has spoken to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi about those allegations amidst calls for his resignation. Sound familiar or what? Hopefully Leader Pelosi and other Democrat bigwigs have noted that Wu's challengers in the upcoming primary appear to be men only so far...

Need we say more about politics as usual in our nation's capital, as regards both the political landscape and the debt ceiling fiasco? If you haven't, please take a look at: "Would female leaders solve debt crisis?" (CNN 7-20-11). Meanwhile, the upcoming special election in NV02 on September 13th between State Treasurer Kate Marshall (D) and former State Senator Mark Amodei (R) is heating up accordingly. This is a Republican district -- but don't count Marshall out, help her!

P.S. Visit ElectWomen Magazine website for timely news of women in politics - and look for "The Truth About the Political Status of U.S. Women: What are we going to do about it?" as the current featured book.

Tweet -- then click HERE to access "The Truth About the Political Status of U.S. Women: What are we going to do about it?" on smashwords.com..

Rep. West behavior a disgrace, women take note!

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In case you have not heard, HERE is the totally over the line (but not totally surprising) email sent by Rep. Allen West to Debbie Wasserman Schultz - a very good reason to get behind Lois Frankel, who is challenging him in that district. She will, however, have a tough primary.

Primaries will be where the rubber hits the road: women must vote for women, especially in their own party primaries. Women cannot win a General Election unless they are on the ballot. If you live in FL22, it will be your responsibility NOT to find some bogus reason not to vote for Lois. Find a way to write her a check if you can...and for other women who will need your support come primary time.

Find the women running for Congress that you agree with and make them winners -- as opposed to whining about (and spending money against) the women you do not agree with. That tactic has only helped elect more men, who even in your own party do not have the same priorities as women do...There is no silver bullet -- the total number of seats that will held by women in the 113th Congress will depend on what you do to support women candidates starting right now!

PS. "Would female leaders solve debt crisis?" (CNN 7-20-11)

Tweet -- then click HERE to access "The Truth About the Political Status of U.S. Women: What are we going to do about it?" on smashwords.com..

Kate Marshall in Nevada Special Election

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Time to turn our attention to the Special Election in NV02 on September 13th to replace Dean Heller, who was appointed to the Senate. State Treasurer Kate Marshall won the Democratic Party's nomination on 6/25 -- that's great, but once again it was a closed process. She won the party's central committee vote 117-5. At least the process was more transparent than what came down in Queens to pick candidates to replace Anthony Weiner for NY09. That election will take place same day, with no women on the ballot.

So far, women have won both special elections in 2011 - and have increased their seats +1, rolling back to 11/08 at 73 or 16.8%

Meanwhile, redistricting is taking place - and the results will have dramatic effect on the 2012 elections. In most cases legislatures are in control, with Republicans holding majorities in 26 states. Some states -- like CA, AZ and NJ - have state redistricting commissions. Details HERE.

(If you have ever worked on a presidential campaign, you know that 50 states have 50 separate processes used to put candidates on primary ballots - most, but not all, controlled by the Dems and GOPers. Complicated, confusing, mostly out of public view, and sometimes with critical consequences.)

Candidates are already getting in position to run for new districts or old changed districts or whatever districts. In Orange county, the former, popular Orlando Chief of Police Val Demings recently stepped up to challenge Rep. Dan Webster in FL08. But her race may change to an "open seat" after the districts are redrawn. Nonetheless, she already has some heavyweights Dems behind her.

More women need to jump into "open seat" races sooner rather than later. You cannot win unless you play the game...or if you wait too long to start playing. The boys have been lining up for a long time!

Then the rest of us need to jump in right along with those women candidates to help them win. There are no freebies -- you get what you pay for!

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Ouch - EMILY's List taking all the credit again!

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I spent several late hours last night following the Janice Hahn race for CA36 to replace Jane Harman - and plenty of reasons were mentioned for her victory: Robo calls by Bill Clinton (not sure who paid for those), help from Obama for America, phone calls by NOW and CAWPC members, not to mention the work of her own campaign volunteers..Democrats, friends and especially women closed ranks for Janice -- as well they should have!

Then came the noontime email from Stephanie Shriock, President of EMILY's List and Democratic Party star - and you would think that her members were soley responsible for Hahn's win: "EMILY's List members were there with Janice every step of the way, providing her with support to make her win possible." The kicker was: "Make no mistake: you did this. You got us one step closer to winning back the House in 2012."

Winning back the house is, of course, the goal of all Democrat orgs/operatives - and EMILY's List does understand that: "The more Democratic women we elect, the better policies we'll see for every family in this country." (Though I would make a case for women in general in order to achieve effective critical mass.)

But how much credit does EMILY's List actually deserve? How much credit does the Democratic Party deserve? Are they one in the same?

We need to know more in order to answer the big question: Is the Democratic Party helping get more women elected to Congress, or is EMILY's List helping elect more Democrats regardless of gender?

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Janice Hahn wins CA36 "open seat" special election!

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LA City Council Member Janice Hahn (D) won yesterday's contentious CA36 special election for Congress by 54.6-45.4%. She defeated Graig Huey (R) and replaces Jane Harman, who resigned in January to become President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Women have won both "open seat" Special Elections so far in 2011 -- picking up an additional seat for women, and bringing the current total back to the 11/2008 figure of 73 voting women members (16.8%) of Congress.

On September 13th, there will be another special election to replace Dean Heller in NV02; by all accounts 3 women are in the mix. On that same day, there will be an election in NY09 to replace Anthony Weiner. Local party leaders chose the candidates, and there will be no women on the ballot.

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Paula's book now available at Apple iBook Store!

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

The Truth About the Political Status of U.S. Women: What are we going to do about it? can now be accessed on your iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad by purchasing it through the Apple iBook Store. You can read a sample first!

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Gov. Cuomo progressive when it suits him..

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

Reading the rehash in The New York Times on how the gay marriage bill passed gave me pause - especially after reading some commentary re Queens/New York politics and the choosing of a Democratic candidate for the Special Election on September 13th to replace Anthony Weiner.

Looked like Cuomo was part of the good ol' boy network on that score. But on the gay marriage legislation he was the paragon of progressive politics: "'They [budgets and the like] are operational,' he told his father. Passing same-sex marriage, by contrast, 'is at the heart of leadership and progressive government. I have to do this.'" (NYTimes 6-26-11)

Much mention was made of gay sons, nephews and others who made the issue personal for some of the lawmakers who changed their minds and voted for the bill. Andrew Cuomo jumped through a myriad of hoops to make that legislation a reality, including an impassioned speech about equality to the GOP Senate delegation at his residence. As he well should have!

But does equality end there? Are there different standards/priorities for women - who make up the majority of the population, but might not write such large checks for political campaigns?

Fast forward to the shenanigans that led to choosing David Welprin as the Democrat candidate for the NY09 Congressional seat - pretty much a slam dunk election in that district for Democrats. Liz Holztman and Melinda Katz were two very solid possibilities, but David Welprin and his pals won out.

Yeah, you may be thinking that I don't know enough about Queens politics (even though I did live in NYC for about a dozen years). And I do know that this seat may not survive redistricting. But at some point principle and doing what's right should over-ride politics as usual. Just like the issue of same-sex marriage. Governor Cuomo could have taken a stand to send one more woman to Washington.

Doesn't he know that women hold a measly 16.6% of seats in the U.S. Congress -- that we are simply grossly under-represented and need to fight for every "open seat?"

The Democrats (according to stated policy viz equal rights for women) should be first in line to help. But they artfully ignore the issue of equal representation when push comes to self-preserving shove -- even those who have daughters that they dote upon.

Andrew Cuomo has three openly-female daughters, who were very active in his campaign for governor. Don't they count?

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Assemblyman David Weprin to get Dems nomination for Weiner's open seat!

Assemblyman David Weprin to get Democrats' nomination for former Rep. Anthony Weiner's open seat - NYPOST.com


"The source also said that Weprin, the only Orthodox Jewish elected official in Queens, could easily attract the Jewish voters who had been so loyal to Weiner."

Liz Holztman and Melinda Katz are not Jewish? Do NY women have absolutely no clout in Democrat politics?

OR is there a lack of political will to overlook differences and get behind one of their own towards Equal Representation?

Very sad, anyway you look at it!

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

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Update: Will a woman replace Anthony Weiner?

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

According to news reports, local party leaders will choose the candidates for the September 13th Special Election to replace Anthony Weiner in NY09 - or 3500 signatures in the coming 10 days or so will get you on the ballot. Two women have been mentioned as being in the mix, including former New York City Council Member Melinda Katz (who ran against Weiner and lost the primary in 1998) and current Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (a cousin of Queens Democratic Party boss Rep. Joe Crowley, who will make the ballot decision along w/Kings County Assembly member and Democratic Chairperson Vito Lopez ). The election is for the remainder of the current Congressional term, and redistricting may impact the district in 2012 - but the opportunity to put another woman in Congress cannot be overlooked.

Any women with Democratic Party clout out there to make this happen, or will it be the same 'ol same 'ol? Will New York U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand make any effort to rally NYC women around Katz or Crowley or some other woman to fill this Congressional seat, or otherwise pressure the Democratic Party to choose a woman? Gillibrand has recently created offthesidelines.org and provided crucial support for Kathy Hochul in the recent upstate NY26 Special Election. The election of MORE women to Congress requires concrete action, action, action!

(For more information on current "open seats" click HERE -- if you have any news of additional "open seat" races or tips regarding who is running or not running, please let us know.)

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DC Dems Continue to Control Candidacies!

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)

Updating my list of current "open seats" and potential candidates, I ran up against news about DC Dems working to control who runs for a redistricted seat in California - in this case potentially pushing out a woman candidate in favor of men. State Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod has her eye on the slot, but Democratic Party wheels are churning against her according to a sitting Congressman:

"Friday, Baca, D-Rialto, said Democratic leaders in Washington had encouraged him to run in the new West End district to ensure a Democratic victory. Baca suggested that Negrete McLeod could not win the seat. Under that scenario, Baca said his son, Rialto Councilman Joe Baca Jr., would run in the Rialto-San Bernardino seat that Baca Sr. now represents." (The Press Enterprise 6/13/11)

When is this sort of good ol'boy activity going to stop? More importantly, when is the Democratic Party going to look for opportunities for MORE women to be elected to Congress to make sure women make real progress toward Equal Representation?

Happy Fourth of July! We will be celebrating 235 years since independence from the British Empire -- and still no equality for women under the U.S. Constitution, not to mention a measly 16.6% of seats in Congress. And it looks like this won't be changing much anytime soon.

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