Women In 2000
by George A Dean
Founder of '50/50 by 2020'
Co-Chair, Women's Campaign School - Yale University
How Women Fared in the US Elections 2000
A record number of women were elected to the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives on November 7th 2000.
The net gain for the House and Senate was only three new female seats. At that rate it will take a
hundred years for women to achieve equal membership in the House. All 63 female members of the House and the
Senate who ran for re- election won their races. Added to this group of incumbents, there were
seven new women elected to the House, four were Democrats and three were Republicans, and
three new Democratic women were elected to the Senate. Four Congresswomen retired or resigned
before the elections.
The best news for women in the 2000 elections was the win by Hillary Rodham Clinton in the
New York Senate race and the election of Debbie Stabenow in a close Senate contest in
Michigan. Added to these important victories was the appointment of Jean Carnahan to fill
the Missouri Senate seat won by her late husband after his tragic death in a plane accident.
The addition of these three women to the Senate will bring female membership in that body to
12 out of 100. There are now 59 women in the House of Representatives out of 435 seats.
Perhaps the worst news for women in the 2000 elections was at the state legislative level. Not
only were there fewer women running for seats in state legislatures, there were fewer women
elected to these state governing bodies for the first time in 25 years. At the state level
women were elected governor in Delaware and Montana. There are currently 16 Lt-Governors
in the United States.
The bleak numbers at the state level and the moderate progress in the US House were probably
the result of several factors such as the lack of available open seats to run for, the
general perception that politics has become an uncivil activity for women and the fact that
the redistricting that will occur before 2002 could radically alter the constituencies for
most law makers. In addition, many younger women who are potential candidates don't want to
give up their well paying jobs to seek elective office that often offers significantly less
total compensation.
The importance of the three US Senate wins for women can not be overemphasized. Without
the high profile elections of Hillary Clinton, Debbie Stabenow and Jean Carnahan, the image
of women's progress in the leadership of our nation would be seriously threatened. The fact
that a significant number of female candidates barely lost their elections does offer some hope
for the future if these women can be convinced to run again.
If we ever want to see gender parity in our government, however, we will have to encourage,
train and support more women to campaign for public office at all levels - from local
elections to the White House.
© George A. Dean 2000
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