Women in Oregon Politics

As a follow-up to our monthly Queen's Bench luncheon on September 13, 2011, our speaker, Laura Coyle from Emerge Oregon, shared with us some statistics on Women in Oregon Politics and information about Emerge Oregon's Class of 2012. Enjoy!

Women in Oregon Politics

A National Perspective:
The US currently ranks 87th in the world in terms of number of women in the federal legislature, behind Mexico, China and even Iraq. As of 2011, women make up:

• 17% of the US Senate
  
• 16% of the US House
  
• 12% of the number of Governorships
  
• 25% of the seats in state legislatures
  
• 7% of the mayors in major US cities
  

A State Perspective:
In Oregon’s history, we have had:

• One female US Senator
• Four women serve in the House of Representatives
• One female state labor commissioner
• Two female superintendents of public instruction
• Three female Secretaries of State
• Five women serve on the state supreme court—including the two who currently serve
• Three women have served as Mayor of Portland
• Four female Speakers of the House
• And one woman serve as Governor

In Oregon’s history, we have never had a female:

• President of the Oregon Senate
• State Treasurer (although you can blame me for that one)
• State Attorney General
• And no woman has ever served as Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court

Oregon currently ranks 13th in the nation in terms of women holding legislative office at 27.8%. While Oregon has proven time and again that we are open to electing women, the percentage of women in our legislature declined in 2010; and as of October 2011, only 26 of our 90 state legislators are women. We know that women can get elected in Oregon. Our challenge is that not enough women are running: the exact problem that Emerge Oregon is designed to address.

• That’s 9 women in the State Senate
• 16 women in the State House (as of October 4, 2011, there are 17 women serving in the Oregon House)

There are no women representing Oregon in the US Congress and only 2 of Oregon’s 6 statewide elected officials are women

Emerge Oregon
Mission: To recruit women who want to run for political office (including both elected and appointed office), train them and provide them with the support they need to win

Our rigorous seven-month course prepares women to run and win and we’re recruiting and training Oregon’s next Democratic women leaders right now. In doing so, we will start filling the political pipeline with a pool of highly qualified candidates that reflect the breadth and diversity of the Democratic Party.  As of September 24, have graduated 55 alumnae.

• 17 have gone on to hold elected or appointed office (31%), including one of our alumnae who was just appointed to the vacancy in House District 46
• Six of our alumnae are currently running for office in 2012

Emerge Oregon is currently recruiting program participants for the Class of 2012, and we encourage you to apply.  The 2012 Program will meet once a month on weekends from February 2012 to August 2012. The application is currently posted on our website (www.emergeor.org/apply).  The deadline to apply is December 9, 2011.

2012 Program Dates:
Kick-Off/Welcome: January 2012, date TBD
Class One: Saturday, February 11th
Monday, February 20th (President's Day): Job Shadow in the Oregon Legislature
Class Two: Saturday, March 10th
Class Three: Saturday, April 14th
Class Four: Saturday, May 19th
Class Five: Saturday, June 9th
Class Six: Saturday, July 14th
Class Seven: Saturday, Aug 11th