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Oct

22

GOP Women in OH GA: endangered species


Might not be due to anything that Al Gore claims as his, but according to the Columbus Dispatch, the last GOP woman standing in the Ohio statehouse might be the last for a long while to come:

The testosterone level on the Republican side of the Senate couldn’t get much higher these days.

When Republican Sen. Patricia Clancy was ushered out of her seat into a county job two weeks ago to make way for fellow Cincinnatian Bill Seitz, half of the chamber’s GOP women disappeared.

In a state where females make up 51 percent of the population, being a female, a senator, and a Republican has been a lonely demographic combination for nearly nine years. Since 1999, no more than two women have served in the Senate GOP caucus at any one time, and of 21 members today, only Sen. Joy Padgett of Coshocton remains.

She’s not sticking around past 2008. Rep. Jimmy Stewart of Athens wants to take her place.

Unless former state Sen. Karen Gillmor decides to run next year, Senate Republicans have no female candidates lined up to join the team in 2009, meaning that for the second time in 24 years the caucus could be all-male and all-white.

And from Senate President Bill Harris (R) as to “what now”:

Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, insists his lack of “ladies” is not for a lack of effort. “We’ve just not been successful in doing that. It’s not been intentional.”

In addition to traditional family obligations that keep women from running, Harris blames term limits, saying that women in politics want more long-term, stable careers.

“Ladies so often have the ability to be more objective in their thoughts,” Harris said. “So often, men react very rapidly. I think in many cases ladies are more process focused, and if you have them in your caucus, they provide a sense of stability and a different perspective.”

Ladies? LADIES?

Sigh.

Lest anyone start off with the “men can rep women just as well as women can” thing, here’s what outgoing Senator Joy Padgett thinks:

Although she considers herself “one of the guys,” Padgett said, “It’s important to have several women in the caucus. When you’re looking at representing populations, there just aren’t enough women in the chamber, period.”

Senator Harris, I personally invite you to support the effort to bring the White House Project’s training in Ohio in 2008 and then send as many GOP women as possible. You can also check in with former GOP Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson who has her own foundation geared toward getting women into the pipeline, the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute.

What exactly have you been trying to get the women in that would, you know, show us that the diminishing numbers isn’t intentional? (If I’d been the reporter, I would have asked Harris that.)

Hattip to Stubborn Liberal.

Cross-posted at Wide Open.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:21 am October 22nd, 2007 in Campaigning, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Statehouse, Women 

Comments

3 Responses to “GOP Women in OH GA: endangered species”

  1. 1 Jon Husted gives two GOP women endangered species protection | Writes Like She Talks on November 8th, 2007 11:44 pm

    [...] remember this post, from 10/22? It highlighted a Columbus Dispatch story about the dwindling number of GOP women in [...]

  2. 2 Why Wide Open mattered to news consumers (PD 3 weeks late to the news) | Writes Like She Talks on November 10th, 2007 11:41 am

    [...] problem three weeks ago, 10/21/07, on Wide Open: GOP Women in OH GA: endangered species (based on a Columbus Dispatch [...]

  3. 3 News-Herald says women top ballot again; OH senate could be barren of GOP women | Writes Like She Talks on May 18th, 2008 9:44 am

    [...] will have no women from the Republican party starting in January 2009, as things currently stand. I wrote about this fact last fall.  As the Columbus Dispatch wrote then: The testosterone level on the Republican side of the [...]

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