Women hold the keys to power in American politics. You would never know it, given their chronic underrepresentation as candidates, elected officials, operatives and pundits, but it’s true. In the 2018 midterm, for example, 55 percent of the Texans who voted were women, eclipsing the dudes by a wide margin.
Organizations such as EMILY’s List nationally, and Annie’s List here in the Lone Star State, have been dedicated for years to growing the ranks of female elected officials, with considerable success. By providing candidate recruitment and training, fundraising and consulting assistance, as well as financial support, these organizations have played a big role in electing more women to office.
A new organization, co-founded by Texan, daughter of the late Governor Ann Richards and former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cecile Richards is going bigger. Supermajority, launched by Richards, Alicia Garza, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter and Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, will seek to train two million women to be political activists.
In its own words, Supermajority “will provide women with the tools, resources, and knowledge they need to channel the energy and activism of this moment and change the direction of this country. For good.” Among Supermajority’s goals:
- Provide training to inform women on issues affecting their lives;
- Create and support a women’s issue agenda;
- Build an online community; and
- Mobilize women in upcoming and future elections.
The new organization has big goals, and heavy hitters in place to achieve them. No doubt major financial backing will follow. At the end of the day, through the efforts of Supermajority and others, maybe women will no longer be treated like an interest group in American politics, but the majority they already are.
