Fewer women joining state legislatures

After three decades of gains, the number of women crafting state laws and policy has slipped in recent years, drawing concern from advocates who see statehouses as a training ground for the nation's future leaders.

The latest drop is small: There are 35 fewer female legislators this year, down to 1,645 women out of 7,382 state lawmakers across the country.

But a similar decline occurred after the 2000 election. And despite a record six women now serving as governor, women have lost ground for all statewide elected offices, such as treasurer and attorney general.

"There are fewer women in the pipeline than we want to have and we need to have," said Roselyn O'Connell, president of the National Women's Political Caucus.

"We're going to see fewer women serving. And we're going to have fewer women running for positions like lieutenant governor or governor, because they haven't moved through that pipeline."

In Congress, women failed to make any gains in the House last November and increased their numbers by one in the Senate, with Lisa Murkowski appointed by her father, Alaska's new governor, to fill out the rest of his term. There are 73 women out of 535 members of Congress.

Still, O'Connell and others emphasize women's successes -- the first female governors in Michigan, with Democrat Jennifer Granholm, and in Hawaii, with Republican Linda Lingle. Women also govern Arizona, Delaware, Kansas and Montana.

But the weakness in legislative and statewide seats like attorney general and secretary of state raises special concerns, because it casts doubt about the future pool of candidates for Congress and the presidency.

"It's a story of stagnation. We're not making strides here, where we've always made strides before," said Deborah Walsh, director of the Center for the American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

In response, women's groups have renewed the focus on encouraging women to enter politics in their communities, starting outreach efforts to college students, career women and others.

In 1971, women made up 4.5 percent of the nation's state legislators. That rose steadily through the 1980s and '90s, reaching 22.5 percent by 2000. The number of women in office shrunk after the 2000 election, rose a bit because of 2001 races, then dipped slightly again: Women now hold 22.3 percent of state legislative seats.

Women in statewide elected office, including governor, fell from 92 at the end of 2000, to 89 last session, to 79 this year.

Gary Moncrief, a professor of political science at Boise State University, said men are still more likely than women to choose a career in politics on their own. Women are more often recruited.

"Women were much more likely to say that they were -- not pushed into the race, but they needed some kind of prodding," said Moncrief, author of the book "Who Runs for the Legislature?"

Advocates say they're refocusing their efforts to reach out to young women and those at career midpoints, to talk of the challenges and rewards of politics.

"Our whole role is to get back in there, to get out and identify, recruit and train women to become part of that political pipeline," said O'Connell, an Arizona Republican who said her group reaches out to all parties. It emphasizes abortion rights, federal funding for child care and pay equity for both genders.

Walsh, O'Connell and others are particularly concerned that term limits may be damaging women politicians more than men. They said further study is needed, but across the 11 states with term limits in effect, women lost a total of 13 seats, or roughly a third of all the losses in the 2002 election season.

Term limits may simply scare off female newcomers, who now must add in the prospect of a shortened political career along with traditional concerns of family and career, said Michigan state Rep. Dianne Byrum, a Democrat and the first woman to head a legislative caucus in the state.

"It's getting more expensive to run for office. And in a term-limited state, there are more seats that are up. It just ratchets up the cost to be involved," said Byrum, who is in her 20th year in politics.

But some women politicians say the problem shouldn't be overstated.

Even unsuccessful campaigns will inspire other female candidates, said Shannon O'Brien, the former Massachusetts treasurer who lost the governors race to Republican Mitt Romney.

"I don't think anyone should be terrified by what I perceive as a blip," said O'Brien. "Women need to take some pride in the fact that so many women take on these challenges, and a number of women did win. And we go on from there."

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On the Net

Center for American Women and Politics: www.cawp.rutgers.edu/