December 2006
Democrats take back Congress
Women are at the center of political change in every way -- as candidates, as voters, and as contributors -- women made history in the 2006 elections.
Thanks to support from EMILY's List members, a record number of Democratic women will serve in the new Democratic Congress -- 11 in the Senate and at least 50 in the House -- while across the country pro-choice Democratic women will promote progressive values in legislatures and in statewide offices like governor, treasurer, secretary of state, and attorney general.
Eight new pro-choice Democratic women were elected to the U.S. House during the 2006 election cycle, the highest number since 1992. And come January 2007, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi will take center stage as the nation's first woman Speaker of the House.
"This is a fantastic victory for women," says Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "We won at every level and will see a living symbol of our success when Nancy Pelosi picks up the Speaker's gavel."
When Pelosi came to Congress in 1987, EMILY's List had just started and there were only 12 Democratic women in the U.S. House. Nearly 20 years later, EMILY's List is the nation's biggest political action committee -- and Pelosi can count on a base of at least 50 women in the Democratic Caucus to help her break the glass ceiling.
EMILY's List is working toward another historic House victory in Louisiana, where state Rep. Karen Carter forced U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson into a runoff on Nov. 7. Jefferson is under federal investigation for bribery and was stripped of his seat on the influential House Ways and Means Committee after FBI agents found $90,000 in marked bills in his freezer. If Carter wins the Dec. 9 runoff, she will be the first African American woman to represent Louisiana in the U.S. House.
All three pro-choice Democratic women governors up for re-election won by large margins: Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona, extraordinary Democratic leaders of red states, and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, who overcame a billionaire's assault to hold her seat and fulfill her vision of a strong, prosperous Michigan.
Senate falls to Democrats
A record-high six pro-choice Democratic women were elected to the U.S. Senate Nov. 7, including two new senators: Missouri Auditor Claire McCaskill and Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
"Winning Missouri was the linchpin of every possible Democratic Senate takeover scenario," says Malcolm. "The Republicans knew this, so they poured millions of dollars into the state in the final week. Claire McCaskill's defeat of Jim Talent put the Senate solidly within the Democrats' grasp."
Early on, Republicans targeted Minnesota's open Senate seat as a prime takeover opportunity, hand-picking a reliable Bush acolyte, Rep. Mark Kennedy, as their candidate. But Klobuchar ran a picture-perfect campaign, clearing a path to the Democratic nomination and maintaining a steady lead over Kennedy throughout the general election campaign.
"Amy Klobuchar's victory is a textbook case of the power of early money," says Malcolm. "EMILY's List announced our support for her long before any other progressive group was ready to take a chance. We knew she was a star -- and so did our members, whose generous contributions helped her win this stunning victory."
EMILY's List identifies rising stars like Klobuchar and McCaskill through POP, our Political Opportunity Program, which is dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to state and local office.
"We had worked with both McCaskill and Klobuchar," says Malcolm. "We knew they had the experience and the fortitude to make the leap to federal office, and when the opportunity arose, we helped them build winning campaigns."
Also winning important Senate victories were Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington state and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Both women were considered highly vulnerable going into the 2006 election, putting them squarely in the sights of the GOP.
"Cantwell and Stabenow faced well-funded challengers with strong ties to the national GOP and vast resources at their disposal," says Malcolm. "Support from EMILY's List helped protect them from formidable Republican takeover attempts."
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) were easily re-elected.
When women vote, women win!
Women voters spoke loudly and clearly at the ballot box in 2006, creating a gender gap that lifted Democrats to victory in Senate races in Missouri, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Montana. According to research conducted for EMILY's List by pollsters Geoff Garin and Molly O'Rourke of Peter D. Hart Research, Democrats made gains among important groups of female voters -- including Hispanic women, whose support for Democrats increased 18 percent over 2004. Maintaining their support in 2008 will be critical for any Democratic presidential hopeful.
Interestingly, the lack of a gender gap in certain races actually signaled a shift among key groups of male voters toward Democratic candidates -- not a drop in support from women.
Nowhere was the power of EMILY's List and women voters more apparent than in Michigan, where the entire arsenal of EMILY's List political tools came into play.
"EMILY's List made a big investment in Michigan," says Karen M. White, national political director. "We worked in myriad ways to expand the electorate and drive up turnout among women. And the results were astounding: voter turnout reached an historic high for a midterm election, with a half million more voters casting ballots than in the previous midterm election. These voters helped re-elect Gov. Granholm and Sen. Stabenow and put Democrats in charge of the state House."
Women voters made up 55 percent of the Michigan electorate, White notes. "That's no accident. We were relentless in identifying, locating, and contacting our voters. Our microtargeting told us who we needed to talk to. Working with our allies in the America Votes coalition, we made sure voters received tailored messages from credible messengers by whatever means was most effective.
"Voter turnout can drop by 20 points or more in nonpresidential elections," says White. "Getting these ‘drop-off' women voters to participate in midterm elections can make the difference between victory and defeat for our candidates."
Targeted voters, White notes, were contacted repeatedly by mail and telephone to educate them on the issues and urge them to vote. In Michigan, WOMEN VOTE! made more than four million contacts to Democratic and independent women voters.
All that organizing paid off when Stabenow defeated Oakland County Sherriff Mike Bouchard and Granholm defeated right-wing billionaire Dick DeVos. Granholm's victory is especially sweet. DeVos had at his disposal the "Amway Army," a door-to-door force that the DeVos family has used for political gain. He remained neck and neck with Granholm in public polls, but in the end she defeated him resoundingly -- aided in part by a 17-point gender gap created by support from women.
It's good to govern
With Democrats in power, women will hold leadership roles on congressional committees and in state legislatures, many for the first time in history. In the U.S. House, Rep. Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) is in line to head the Rules Committee; Rep. Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.) will take over the Small Business Committee; and Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (Calif.) will be chair of the House Administration Committee, which provides internal oversight of Congress -- a vital post as Democrats clean up the culture of corruption. Reps. Nita Lowey (N.Y.) and Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) are in line to become "cardinals," chairs of subcommittees of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California is set to chair the Environment and Public Works Committee and Dianne Feinstein, also of California, will head the Senate Rules Committee.
With so many pro-choice Democratic women in power in Congress and across the country, we can expect to see legislation that will advance a progressive agenda and make life better for women and families. In addition to bringing a new tone of civility and ethics to Congress, Pelosi has pledged to follow through on the Democrats' "Six for 06" plan, including passing a minimum wage increase, making college and health care more affordable, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations, and fostering energy independence.
Record sums raised for candidates, EMILY's List
EMILY's List members broke fundraising records, contributing a record $11 million to candidates and another $34 million to support EMILY's List's political programs, including WOMEN VOTE! and POP.
"EMILY's List is the only organization outside of the campaign committees to make a significant investment in recruiting, training, and funding candidates who made the Democratic takeover of Congress a reality," says Malcolm. "I'm so proud of our success in bringing such dramatic change to our government and grateful that our members believed in this opportunity and made it happen with their contributions. Together, we created a powerful force for change."
Visit www.emilyslist.org for more coverage of the 2006 election and for news of the Louisiana congressional runoff Dec. 9.
Editorial by Ellen R. Malcolm: Win Today, Build for Tomorrow
The Victory Lap
To borrow from Jackie Gleason, "How sweet it is!" Victory is a fine thing. And after the torture of the 2004 election, our victories are even sweeter.
EMILY's List members and candidates made history in 2006, helping Democrats take control of Congress by electing the highest number of Democratic women ever, and enabling a woman to hold the third highest office in our country, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Since the 2000 election, EMILY's List has implemented our strategic plan to use the political power of women to build a more progressive America. We follow a powerful motto: Win Today, Build for Tomorrow.
There appears to be a debate raging in Democratic circles about whether the party should invest long term in building a political infrastructure or use party resources to win immediate victories. At EMILY's List, we view that as a false choice. By implementing our strategic plan, we are investing in both -- and the 2006 election shows that long-term investment and short-term victories are both possible and necessary.
Since 2001, EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program (POP) has helped expand the number of women running for state and local office to record high levels. This cycle, EMILY's List endorsed candidates in 267 downballot races -- state House and Senate, major local races, and statewide posts like secretary of state and attorney general. At this writing, 194 POP candidates in 31 states won, bringing the number of women serving in office to an all-time high.
With support from EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program (POP), women candidates helped Democrats take control of seven legislative chambers: the Iowa House and Senate, the Michigan House, the Minnesota House, the Montana House, the New Hampshire Senate, and the Oregon House. The new speakers of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Houses are women, as is the Senate president in New Hampshire. Democratic women will hold dozens of other legislative leadership positions.
The balance of power of state legislatures looms large as we head toward 2010, when congressional lines will be redrawn after the census. Whichever party controls the legislature controls that process and can leave a lasting mark on the state's congressional delegation. Helping achieve Democratic control of redistricting is part of EMILY's List's strategic plan to build a progressive majority, which we've been working on for five years.
Statewide, an astounding 20 of 23 POP candidates won difficult races. One of the most notable winners is Jennifer Brunner, who as secretary of state of Ohio will oversee that state's troubled elections process. In Nevada, pro-choice Democratic women took over three statewide posts: Kate Marshall as treasurer, Catherine Cortez Masto as attorney general, and Kim Wallin as controller. Alex Sink, the only Democrat to win statewide constitutional office in Florida, is the new chief financial officer; she represents the future of the Democratic party in that important battleground state.
The victories of these women bode well for the future. We have already reaped the benefits of building relationships with downballot candidates and helping them move up the ladder. The POP candidates of today are the Amy Klobuchars, Claire McCaskills, Gabby Giffords, and Yvette Clarkes of tomorrow -- young women leaders whom EMILY's List is helping to take their first steps into public life, getting the experience they need to govern wisely in their communities and, someday, at a higher level.
As we begin to turn this country around and instill progressive policies at every level of government, it's good to know there are strong women in critical posts that affect millions of lives.
It's good to win -- but it's even better to govern!