Amid Women’s History Month, legislators reflect on parity in politics

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Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, center left, greets U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, on Wednesday during a ceremony for the unveiling of Filler-Corn’s portrait as the former speaker of the House. Filler-Corn, speaker from 2020-22, made history as the first woman and first Jewish speaker in Virginia. Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH

“It only took about 400 years,” said former Virginia first lady Anne Holton as she stood in Virginia’s House of Delegates chamber ahead of the unveiling of the official portrait of the state’s first woman speaker of the House.

Holton, the daughter of former Republican governor Linwood Holton, wife of former Gov. and current U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and a former state secretary of education, was among a packed and audibly joyous room on Wednesday to celebrate Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, who served as speaker from 2020 to 22.

One hundred years after Helen Timmons Henderson of Buchanan County and Sarah Lee Fain of Norfolk were elected to the House in 1923, becoming the first women elected to Virginia’s legislature, women continue their long rise toward parity in the General Assembly.

Before former state Sen. Jennifer McClellan was sworn into her seat in Congress on March 7, women accounted for 48 of the 140 seats in the General Assembly, or 34%. And with about 30% of representation nationwide in state and federal government being composed of women, politics is getting that much closer to the “normal.”

Filler-Corn, dressed in shades of blue, representative of her political party, in both the painting and her attire Wednesday, later spoke of how she doesn’t believe she’ll be the last “first” to serve as speaker or other prominent political roles.

“My portrait is the first, but it won’t be the last and it’s not about me, it’s about our efforts together,” she said in an interview.

Filler-Corn, who is not running for reelection this fall, celebrated the other firsts that came before her and the ones she helped make happen as well — such as appointing Dels. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton; Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria; and Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, as the first Black women to helm various House committees. (Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, was the first Black woman to lead a Senate panel.)

reflected on accomplishments the legislature made, especially in recent years and amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During her tenure presiding over the House, she and fellow Democrats have celebrated expanding voting access, ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment and passing the Virginia Clean Economy Act — which places the state on a path to reducing carbon emissions and improving environmental quality.

Filler-Corn, a delegate since 2010, was removed as leader of the party’s House Democratic caucus in April 2022. She is now considering a run for governor in 2025.

‘We should not be a curiosity’

A few hours north in Washington, another first occurred a few weeks prior as McClellan, D-4th, became the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress — and bolstered women representation from the state. Virginia now has a record four women out of its 11-seat delegation. (There are three Jennifers — McClellan and Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, and Jennifer Wexton, D-10th.)

“It blows my mind that we’re still having firsts in 2023,” McClellan said

She added that it feels “amazing” to have grown up reading history books, knowing women and people of color rarely held prominent positions, and to know that people like her might someday be in history lessons.

Every woman interviewed for this story expressed gratitude to be an influential public figure, but noted that they long for more women to be a normal part of politics.

“As women, we should not be a curiosity, or, ‘we’re going to pigeon-hole this person into this one thing because she’s a woman,’” said Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William. “It should be normal.”

It hasn’t always been the case. There was a time women weren’t allowed to participate.

More than a hundred years removed from the women’s suffrage movement — in which women advocated for the right to vote — the right comes with several asterisks.

Women of color had to wait decades longer to be able to exercise their civic rights and duty. Now, women of all demographics are not only voting as constituents but also voting on laws as legislators around the nation.

“My mom didn’t vote until after the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” McClellan said of 90-year-old Lois Dedeaux McClellan, who joined her in Washington for her swearing-in.

“My dad and my grandfather paid poll taxes to vote. My great-grandfather in Alabama had to take a literacy test and find three white men to vouch for him to be able to register to vote.”

Though her father, educator James F. McClellan Jr., died in 2014, McClellan’s mother was able to vote to elect her daughter to Congress.

‘Madam President’

Meanwhile, in the very chambers McClellan recently departed, presides another Black woman — a “Madam President.”

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, made history in November 2021 as Virginia’s second woman — and first Black woman — elected to statewide office.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears pounds the gavel for her first session presiding over the Virginia Senate at the state Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 17, 2022. BOB BROWN, Times-Dispatch

“It helps others to see that we will not allow whatever society constructs to keep us back, we’re going to move forward,” Earle-Sears said. “But I think it’s more about ‘let’s get to the business at hand.’ ”

Lieutenant governors, like vice presidents, preside over Senate chambers — she is president of the Senate — and can cast tie-breaking votes on most issues. They also may assume the role of governor if needed.

Earle-Sears said she has to always have an open ear to constituents, legislators and her colleagues in the executive branch.

“I have to be ready,” she said of the potential to ascend to Virginia’s top elected seat.

“I’m second in command,” added the former U.S. Marine, who served a single term in the House from 2002 to 2004 and lost a bid for Congress in 2004. She later served on the state Board of Education.

Just like their male counterparts, several of the women officials have balanced parenthood with their careers and public service. They were sometimes held to different standards than the men around them, however.