2016 Election Download
Women decline in CA Legislature after 2016 general election:
Not only was 2016 not the year of the first woman U.S. President, it’s also a year in which the number of women in the California Legislature declined, in spite of vigorous effort by NWPC and other groups to recruit and support top-notch women candidates. Women in California’s Congressional delegation also declined by two, pending the outcome of one close race.
Women decline in CA Legislature after 2016 general election:
Not only was 2016 not the year of the first woman U.S. President, it’s also a year in which the number of women in the California Legislature declined, in spite of vigorous effort by NWPC and other groups to recruit and support top-notch women candidates. Women in California’s Congressional delegation also declined by two, pending the outcome of one close race.
In the Legislature, NWPC California endorsed and supported a total of 8 outstanding women candidates, including two incumbents, both of whom won. But losses by Mariko Yamada and Jane Kim in November and two other endorsed candidates in the June primary contributed to the decline from 12 women Senators in 2015-16 to 10 women in the next session.
In the Assembly, NWPC endorsed and supported 22 women candidates, including 6 incumbents. Most advanced to the November general election, but only 10 have so far been declared winners; if Sharon Quirk-Silva is able to hold on to a slender lead, she will be the 11th. Two endorsed incumbents were defeated—Patty Lopez by the man she beat two years ago, and Cheryl Brown by another woman. At this time, it appears the Assembly will lose two women overall.
So as things stand now, the California Legislature will decline from 31 women, or 26% to 27 women or 22.8%--a continuing slow decline over the last 4-6 years—a decline that cannot easily be explained in the light of work by NWPC, Close the Gap, Emerge CA and others to build a strong pipeline of candidates.
The status of women in statewide office (including the U.S. Senate and State Board of Equalization seats) may also go down in 2017—despite the great news of the election of Attorney General Kamala Harris to replace outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer. Unless Governor Brown appoints a woman as acting AG until the 2018 election (which is a possibility), women in California statewide office could decline from 5 to 4.
News on the Congressional front was also not good: California’s delegation to Washington will be down by two women, from 19 to 17, if Nanette Barragan ultimately wins District 44. NWPC National endorsed all the Congressional candidates we recommended and all the incumbents were re-elected. However, women retired from three seats and two were replaced by men, resulting in the declining number. Overall, the number of women in the next Congress will be relatively static, but the representation of women of color has increased significantly, including Senator-elect Harris.
URL:
http://www.nwpcsiliconvalley.org/2016_election_download?mc_cid=8bcb331563&mc_eid=0ee7efb7fe
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