Election 2000 Overview By Kimberly Robson and Ann Ober When Women Vote, Women Win. And this election year was no different! An historic number of women will serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives — 61, up from 58, including delegates from the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands —and the U.S. Senate— 13, up from nine in the 106th Congress. In many key races where supporters of WAND were victorious, the women’s vote made the difference. As one of several examples, in Senator-elect Debbie Stabenow’s race against Senator Spencer Abraham in Michigan, there was a 10-point gender gap between women supporting Debbie over Spencer. It was this margin that carried the day for Debbie! WAND has shown that women vote more progressively in Congress. According to the WiLL/WAND 106th Congress scorecard, women in Congress voted more progressively on issues pertaining to children, women, the environment, peace and handgun control than their male counterparts—58% of women compared to 48% of men. Women endorsed by WAND and supported by WAND PAC vote progressively 90% of the time. This is why it is so important to elect more women to local and federal positions. At the state level, the 2000 election took us further in this journey than ever before. In 2001, five women will serve as governors of their states—the most ever. Furthermore, Puerto Rico elected its first woman governor. Combine that with 16 Lieutenant Governors, and women are clearly gaining ground in the executive branches of state government. In the state legislatures, 1,388 of 2,227 women candidates won. A fantastic 1,688 women will serve as state legislators in 2001. For the first time in thirty years the number of women entering the state legislatures decreased rather than increased. WAND is disappointed, but is hopeful that the next election cycle will rectify this year’s loss. Not only did this election show promise in the number of women running and winning, but we were also victorious in transforming the U.S. Senate. Several Senators who voted against the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty either lost election bids or retired, including Roth (DE), Abraham (MI), Ashcroft (MO), Grams (MN), Mack (FL) and Gorton (WA). These Senators were replaced with a new generation of arms control advocates: Debbie Stabenow (MI), Hillary Clinton (NY), Maria Cantwell (WA), Tom Carper (DE), Jean Carnahan (MO), Ben Nelson (NE), and Jon Corzine (NJ). With these changes, WAND sees a ray of hope in working to promote a real national security agenda in Congress. WAND Victories! Senate WAND women win — big! In one of the biggest upsets in the country, Senator-elect Debbie Stabenow ousted Sen. Spencer Abraham in Michigan. Senator-elect Hillary Clinton proved the pundits wrong by defeating Rep. Rick Lazio for the New York Senate seat. House Representative-elect Susan Davis, an Assemblywoman and WiLL member from the San Diego area, defeated Brain Bilbray (CA-49), a two-term incumbent, in what the Democratic National Committee called one of the best-run campaigns in the country. Send ‘Em Back (Incumbent Victories) US Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI-2) US Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV-1) US Rep. Lois Capps (CA-22) US Rep. Eva Clayton (NC-1) US Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1) US Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA-14) US Rep. Darlene Hooley (OR-5) US Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-15) US Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-9) US Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-16) US Rep. Nita Lowey (NY-18) US Rep. Karen McCarthy (MO-5) US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (GA-4) US Rep. Patsy Mink (HI-2) US Rep. Connie Morella (MD-8) US Rep. Grace Napolitano (CA-34) US Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA-8) US Rep. Lynn Rivers (MI-13) US Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-33) US Rep. Janice Schakowsky (IL-9) US Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY-12) US Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12) US Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-35) US Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6) Preview of the 107th Congress By Kimberly Robson WAND is closely watching President-elect Bush’s choices for his leader-ship team and for policy priorities. We began our strategy planning before a Bush presidency was certain, and our first action is already in the works. We will join the Back from the Brink campaign by promoting a call-in day on February 5 and 6 to urge President Bush to reduce the danger of accidental nuclear war by working with the Russians to get all nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. Other anti-nuclear weapons work will focus on congressional actions to develop new "mini nukes." We want reductions in the number of nuclear weap-ons, not increases. WAND will also call for legislation to address forgotten nuclear production sites dotting our landscape. Legislation will ask for benefits for workers and communities that were affected during the nuclear build-up, for environmental clean up, and for health needs of the workers. And, as always, we will look closely at the President’s budget to be submit-ted February 5. This FY2002 budget may be countered by our own progressive budget. To join WAND’s Capitol Hill weekly e-mail alert, send an e-mail to wand@wand.org. WiLL Leaders in Congress By Ann Ober The Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL) was founded in 1990 to empower women state legislators to voice their concerns on the issues of violence, militarism and federal spending priorities. WAND leaders recognized then that women being elected to Congress were coming from state legislatures. WiLL was created to support women, both in their communities — through the WAND membership — and in Washington, as they accepted the challenge to run for higher office. As elected officials in their states, members of WiLL work to educate their colleagues about national issues that have a direct impact on their constituents. Each election cycle, WiLL members accept the challenge and run for Congress. Once elected, these women serve as an invaluable resource on Capitol Hill by advocating on WAND issues. With their knowledge, talent, and experience, they have become great role models for women in all sectors of public service. This year, two more WiLL members were elected to Congress with the support of WAND members and WAND PAC: U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Stabenow (MI) to the U.S. Senate and California Assemblywoman Susan Davis to the U.S. House. We are pleased to see these progressive women taking office and hope that in two years more women will make the move. WAND and WiLL have shown that we have the recipe for success: powerful information on important issues, active grassroots, and committed elected officials — a combination to change the direction of the country. Return to index