Washington, DC, Dec. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the heels of the midterm elections and just ahead of the highly anticipated runoff election for Senator in Georgia, national nonpartisan nonprofit She Should Run is sounding the alarm on outdated women’s political recruitment strategies. Despite celebrated advancements for women candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, including a record-breaking 12 women elected Governor, overall growth toward equal representation for women—and particularly for historically underrepresented women—in office is acutely stalled.
New research from She Should Run indicates that the well-intentioned messaging aimed at pulling women into the political process is not reaching the majority of women who can and should be running for office.
“We have a leadership crisis on our hands,” said She Should Run Founder and CEO Erin Loos Cutraro. “We are doing a disservice to our democracy by focusing our recruitment strategies on the too few, extraordinary women who step into political leadership on their own. We need a wider pool of women from all walks of life running for office. If we don’t move past traditional approaches to recruiting women candidates in the immediate term, the gap between policy and public opinion will not only widen, but the future of our democracy will remain gravely at risk.”
Women are 51 percent of the population yet hold less than a third of all elected offices and, shockingly, recent studies show more than 100M women in the U.S. cannot imagine themselves in elected positions.
She Should Run’s research identified that among many differing motivations and experiences that can influence a woman’s political journey, there is often one commonality for those who eventually go on to run for office: encouragement from those closest to them.
In response, the organization today launched a time-bound, action-oriented opportunity designed for the masses to encourage and motivate women from all walks of life to consider their leadership potential: The Way Forward campaign. This first activation creates opportunities for individuals to encourage women in their life with a simple action. While the first phase will run through December 16, the campaign underscores the need for a refocused energy toward the women in our communities and the ecosystem that surrounds them.
“The small pool of incredible, brave women willing to step up in this increasingly toxic - and dangerous - political environment is not going to get us to equal representation in our lifetime,” said Cutraro. “We all have a role to play in building the democracy we deserve, and it’s going to take small, bite-sized actions from all of us.”
The opportunity will be the first of a multi-pronged, multi-year strategy designed to meet people where they are and give them ways to engage as active citizens in democracy in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, regardless of their knowledge of politics, women’s representation, or whether they know a woman they think should run.
To learn more, visit sheshouldrun.org/thewayforward.
About She Should Run
She Should Run is a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization that increases the number of women considering a run for public office by helping them realize their potential. As the only lead-finders for the field of women's representation, the organization has a bold but necessary goal to inspire 250,000 women to take their first steps toward public leadership by 2030. She Should Run’s programs are fueled by a vision to see historically underrepresented women play a leadership role in democracy through a movement that mobilizes women from all walks of life to awaken to the power of their leadership potential.
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