Despite Hillary Clinton’s historic upset at the top of the ticket, voters across the country elected 150 Emerge women in down ballot races. Her loss should not be seen as a sign that the American public is not willing to vote for women. Emerge candidates won in red states and blue states showing that when Democratic women run, they win at similar rates to their male counterparts.
Washington, D.C.—Last night, Emerge America’s alumnae delivered knockout punches up and down the ballot when 150 of the organization’s 213 women on ballots in 16 states won their races for local and state office. Emerge alums also turned the tide in several state legislatures. Emerge New Mexico had an incredible night with 10 of their alums winning their races for the New Mexico State House enabling Democrats to take back the chamber from the Republicans. In Nevada, 100 percent of Emerge’s alums won their races for the Nevada State House and State Senate flipping all three chambers back to Democratic control. This is the most wins in one election cycle for Emerge’s alumnae since the organization was founded.
“The women who graduate from Emerge’s training program are fearless fighters who’ve been given the cutting-edge political skills they need to win,” said Andrea Dew Steele, Founder and President of Emerge America. “I’m not surprised at all that so many of our alumnae won their races tonight. We know that when we recruit top notch Democratic women, give them the training they need to succeed and prepare them to run for strategic seats there’s no limit to what they can achieve. America was hungry for the talents our women offer. We can’t wait to see the amazing things that these women accomplish when they are in office.”
One of the biggest obstacles America faces in getting more women in office is convincing to run in the first place. On ballots nationwide, two out of every three candidates is a white man. What’s more 53 percent of candidates run unopposed and 61 percent of them are white men. And even with the critical need to get more women running, research shows that the political ambition gap is actually widening between men and women. In recent years, men’s interest in political office has stayed constant, but women’s interest in politics, which was already lower than men’s has declined 22 percent since 2001 (survey conducted in 2011).
Emerge America has cracked the code on how to get more women to run for office. Since 2002, Emerge America has recruited, trained, and provided a powerful network to over 2,000 women. Of those they have trained, more than 50 percent have run and of those who have run for office approximately 70 percent have won. The organization is also committed to diversity; 30 percent of its graduates are women of color.
A list of Emerge’s alumnae who won their races is available here:
http://www.emergeamerica.org/content/emerge-2016-election-wins
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CONTACT: Allison Abney
(202) 670-7994; Allison@emergeamerica.org