Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!
Many of the institutional norms and practices that have evolved over time seem to be unraveling this week—so I thought it might be good to start this week’s Weekend Reading with recounting some of the important milestones in women’s leadership that have helped to build those institutions.
- This week marks the anniversary of Margaret Chase Smith’s candidacy for the presidency in 1964, and the 1966 swearing in of Constance Baker Motley who was the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge.
- Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, while Carole King’s album Tapestry was released in 1971, and a postage stamp featuring Harriet Tubman was released in 1978.
Celebrating the milestones of the women who have come before us inspires me for the important, and challenging, work ahead.
This week’s Weekend Reading includes a look at the women being considered for the Democratic nomination in the 2028 presidential race, Portland’s new electoral system from the perspective of a first-time candidate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s determination to be a voice of reason within her party, the Florida governor’s appointment of Republican Ashley Moody adds a woman to the Senate, Rep. Sarah McBride navigates her first month in office with grace, and Australia’s leadership on policies and practices that advance women.
Women Candidates and the 2028 Presidential Election
The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake for years has provided his rankings of likely major party presidential nominees. Looking to 2028, his first ranking of the Democratic field raises alarm bells for whether Democrats will again offer the nation a chance to elect the nation’s first woman president.
Of the top 12 prospective nominees, only two are women: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and 2024 nominee Kamala Harris. Blake’s writeup on Whitmer’s chances reflect an urgent need to push back against a perception that Democrats shouldn’t “risk” nominating another woman:
“The Michigan governor’s stock probably suffered in the 2024 election, through no fault of her own. Given Democrats have now lost to Trump twice with the only two female nominees they’ve ever run — and some wondered whether sexism is to blame — it seems likely they’ll be skittish about putting up another one for the foreseeable future (rightly or wrongly). But Whitmer’s qualifications are also some of the most substantial on this list. And because she’s term-limited, she’ll be out of a job come 2027.”
The few additional women of either party highlighted last month in early 2028 forecasting by Politico’s Bill Sher were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the Democratic side and, on the Republican side, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
An Unexpected Journey Into Local Politics
In a new article, Lydia Kiesling recounts her experience as a woman in politics when she unexpectedly became involved in local politics after the city added seats to the city council and adopted proportional ranked-choice voting to elect council members through a charter review process. When Kiesling’s neighbor Tiffany, a teacher and activist, decided to run for City Council, Kiesling became Tiffany’s campaign manager. Together, they navigated the challenges of fundraising, strategy, and political gamesmanship while maintaining their belief in grassroots change.
Read Lydia’s full story on The Cut:
In 2022, Portland voters approved a transition from our janky commission form of government — four commissioners tasked with running all the city’s bureaus — to a system with 12 councilmembers from four districts. The new system would use ranked-choice voting, which had shown to yield more diverse, more representative governing bodies in other places. The hope was that Portland would end up with a group of leaders who looked more like the city they were leading, and who could craft policy and leave the administration of city bureaus to professionals. This change meant that for the first new election of 2024, the field was wide open. Over a hundred people threw their hats in the ring, including my neighbor Tiffany, a third-grade teacher at a local public school.
Finally, in November, Tiffany won. She became the first Asian American woman ever elected to Portland’s city government. A mom and third-grade teacher and rank-and-file union member and friend and neighbor had won a seat in this new form of government. On a world-historically horrible Election Day, the results in Portland surpassed my wildest expectations. I felt disbelief, and joy, and relief, and just the slightest twinge of loss as I realized this brief, intense thing we had all made together was coming to an end. And I felt so proud of this person who had always believed she could do this and who brought us along too.
At the start of 2025, I went to the first City Council meeting and watched our new 12-person council around the dais. It was, by every measure, a totally different city government. There were more people of color and queer people than in any other city commission, cumulatively, in Portland’s history.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski Reaches Across the Aisle
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski defied expectations with her reelection to the United States Senate in 2010. But for those who know her best, that pioneering spirit and advocacy for all Alaksans is unsurprising. Most recently, she was one of the first senators to speak out about the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense and question Trump’s decision to pardon individuals who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. A supporter of Alaska’s ranked-choice voting and open primary system, she supported Democrat Mary Peltola and the campaign to keep Alaska’s new electoral system. In 2024, Alaska received a C ranking on our Gender Parity Index.
Becky Bohrer of the Associated Press writes:
Murkowski is a moderate with a history of bucking her party and Trump when she has felt it was the right thing to do. She was the first GOP senator to publicly break ranks with Trump on his nomination of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary as it advanced this week. Murkowski also said she “strongly” disagreed with Trump’s move to rename North America’s tallest peak, in Alaska, from Denali to Mount McKinley. And she denounced his decision to pardon “the violent offenders who assaulted” police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Murkowski was one of three Republicans to vote against Hegseth’s nomination late Friday, along with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It took Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth.
But, so far, nearly every other GOP member of Congress has fallen in line behind Trump.
Republican Woman Appointed to Florida U.S. Senate Seat
Republican women lag behind Democratic women in Congress, but Republican governors have helped close the gap. This month Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed former Florida attorney general Ashley Moody to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, boosting the number of women in the Senate to 26. Republican governors have appointed several other women to fill Senate vacancies, including Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and recent Sens. Martha McSally (Ariz.) and Kelly Loeffler (Ga.). The only women appointed by Democratic governors in the last three decades have been Tina Smith (Minn.) and recent Sen. Laphonza Butler (Calif.).
The Associated Press reported on Moody’s appointment and how important being a woman is to her:
“Moody is poised to become just the second woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, and the first in nearly 40 years; Republican Paula Hawkins served in the chamber from 1981-1987. In her first statements after DeSantis announced her appointment Thursday, Moody said her experiences as a woman would shape her work in the Senate. ‘First and foremost, I am driven by the fact that I am a mother — and I still have a kid in school,’ Moody said.”
Looking forward, this era of partisan sorting has greatly reduced the playing field for challenges in both the House and Senate – with the only tossup Senate races in 2026 being three held by men in Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina and two held by women in Maine and New Hampshire.. Intentionality in vacancy appointments and recruitments and endorsements in primaries, along with structural electoral reforms to open the playing field, will be essential to achieve gender parity in office.
Sarah McBride Navigates Congress as First Openly Transgender Lawmaker Amid Political Challenges
Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender woman in Congress, faces unique safety concerns in Washington, D.C. Despite facing personal attacks and legislative efforts to restrict transgender rights, McBride continues to advocate for women and families by pushing for paid family leave and higher wages. Violence and intimidation have no place in the political process and is a barrier that prevents women from running and serving. It is essential to practice kindness so that everyone, no matter their lived experience, can have a seat at the table.
Annie Karni from the New York Times reports:
But such awkward interactions are a reminder of the complicated position Ms. McBride occupies in Washington. She has entered Congress as a barrier-breaking representative of a small and vulnerable population at a time when L.G.B.T.Q. rights are under assault and Republicans, who now hold a governing trifecta, see political gains to be made in rolling back the rights of transgender people in particular.
It has already given Ms. McBride more of a spotlight than the average freshman lawmaker in the minority — and prompted her to be very careful about when and how she uses her singular position…
Those issues hit close to home but had little to do with why Ms. McBride ran for Congress. During her campaign, she focused on paid family and medical leave, reduced childcare costs and a higher minimum wage. She barely spoke about her identity and would like to continue the same approach in Congress, if possible.
Ms. McBride chose not to speak on the floor about the bill targeting transgender individuals in sports. “I want my first speech to be about the issues I campaigned on: the economic issues this country is facing,” she said.
The Fight for 1975’s “Year of the Woman” Continues
The United Nations declared 1975, “The Year of the Woman,” setting off a chain of systems reforms across the globe to bolster women’s political power. In Australia, for example, Elizabeth Reid and former Governor-General John Kerr hosted conversations on policy changes that support. In the 1980s, Australia became one of the first countries to specify how budgetary decisions impacted women, which is now a standard practice in 61 percent of OECD countries. It is a crucial government process in the United States and across the globe.
Marian Sawer writes in The Conversation:
Following the adoption at the conference of the World Plan of Action, the idea that governments needed specialised policy machinery to promote gender equality was disseminated around the world.
Given the amount of ground to be covered, IWY was expanded to a UN Decade for Women (1976–85). By the end of it, 127 countries had established some form of government machinery to advance the status of women. Each of the successive UN world conferences (Copenhagen 1980, Nairobi 1985, Beijing 1995) generated new plans of action and strengthened systems of reporting by governments.
The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was a high point. Its “platform for action” provided further impetus for what was now called “gender mainstreaming.” By 2018, every country recognised by the UN except North Korea had established government machinery for this purpose.
The global diffusion of this policy innovation was unprecedented in its rapidity.
The chart above shows the proportion of women in the Australian Parliament—proportional ranked-choice voting is used to elect the Senate where women hold 57 percent of seats.
The Path to Meaningful Change Starts at The Local Level
As readers know, while women comprise over 50 percent of the U.S. population, they remain underrepresented in government. At the local level, women hold only 31 percent of state legislative seats, less than 30 percent of mayoral positions, and 26 percent of county offices. Local government provides a crucial platform for women to drive change in education, housing and public health while fostering community-focused, bipartisan policies.
Dr. Cheryl Robinson for Forbes writes:
Women who want to make a meaningful difference in the world often find their greatest opportunities to create change at the local level. Whether it’s shaping education policies, advocating for affordable housing, or improving public health, local government is where decisions directly impact communities. By stepping into these roles, women can ensure that their voices and perspectives help shape the policies that affect everyday lives.
“Get involved!” states Kelly Krout, 2022 Democrat running candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. “If running for office feels like too much right now, find a candidate you like, volunteer for them, learn about the process. Get involved with your local party or even voter registration. There are so many different ways to start and see where help is needed.”
Register Now: 2025 Democracy Solutions Summit
Registration is live for the 2025 Democracy Solutions Summit! Join the only all-women convening of experts in women’s representation and democracy reform.
Each day focuses on a specific theme aimed at building women’s political power:
- Day 1: Laboratories of Democracy: Policy Solutions in Local Government
- Day 2: Effective State-Level Solutions
- Day 3: From Peak to Plateau: Building Women’s Political Power in Congress
Stay tuned for more updates and speaker announcements!
We extend our deepest condolences to the families affected by yesterday’s tragic plane crash near National Airport. Our hearts are with you.
