Good morning, rulers! I’ll be filling in for Katelyn today. Due to Sophie Gardner for her help with this article! Let’s get into it…
In the times for the reason that midterm elections, one thing has develop into exceptionally clear: It wasn’t just abortion that drove more women than expected to the polls for Democrats.
Paid leave and child care also played a similarly significant — and surprising — role in propelling candidates to victory. Organizations like Paid Leave for All and MomsRising Together that backed candidates running on so-called care policies report that they did higher than expected, reiterating the policies as make-or-break for key voters, particularly suburban women. That bolsters hope for pushing such policies through Congress down the road, said Kristin Rowe-Finkbauer, CEO and co-founder of MomsRising.
“The pundits were saying abortion doesn’t matter anymore, and care doesn’t matter anymore — but we were hearing it loud and clear,” Rowe-Finkbauer said. “The massive takeaway from this election is that mothers and fogeys really care about having the ability to make your mind up if, when and what number of children to have — and really care in regards to the incontrovertible fact that we do not yet have a care infrastructure.”
Of the 20 or so candidates that MomsRisings contributed to, “a lot of them did way higher than we expected,” Rowe-Finkbauer said.
Democrat Chrissy Houlahan won an especially tight race within the swing state of Pennsylvania with a campaign that zeroed in on paid leave and child care after a consultant for Paid Leave for All found an uptick of 1,700 percent in paid leave mentions on social media the month prior.
“A lot of the consultant class and the pundits still don’t see these as economic imperatives,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All. But “it’s clear that the voters actually do.”
An August poll by the group found that 94 percent of ladies living in suburban battlegrounds support paid family and medical leave. One other survey, this one from September, found that when Republican candidates oppose each abortion and paid leave, that offers their opponent a 56-point edge with suburban women.
The higher-than-expected returns have emboldened advocates to maintain pushing for federal investment in paid leave and child care after congressional Democrats slashed them from their party-line spending package earlier this yr — despite the challenges posed by a divided House and Senate.
“It made me feel like…we’ve a shot on the policy,” said Reshma Saujani, CEO and founding father of The Marshall Plan for Mothers. “There’s a bipartisan coalition you can construct.”
Members of Congress are taking notice — including Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray (D-Wa.), who brought up child care to President Joe Biden when he called to congratulate her on winning a tighter-than-expected reelection race.
“Having been out on the campaign trail intensely, women particularly knew that Democrats were fighting for them — and it needed to do with reproductive care and to do with the economic policies that impact them … and that included childcare and paid leave,” Murray, a former preschool teacher, said in an interview. “So I just feel as strongly as ever that we’ve built the momentum toward this as a difficulty persons are talking about. We’d like to look in every single place we will now to get something done.”
Murray, who recently announced her intent to hunt the highest job on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said that she plans to pursue child care funding as a top priority. In her current role on Senate HELP, she’s proposed enacting $1 billion for it as part of the present appropriations cycle.
“That is what’s holding women back from reaching their full potential,” Murray said. “I’m disenchanted we didn’t get it in reconciliation, and that has not stopped me one second from saying, ‘It is a top priority. We gotta keep going.’ But what I do know is that this now could be a difficulty people vote on and that may have an impact on our ability to get something done here.”
Within the meantime, groups just like the National Partnership for Women and Families say they plan to gather data, conduct research and take other steps for example the case for supporting paid leave and child care as vividly as possible to policymakers.
“The teachings that I got from the midterms is the care agenda — paid leave, child care — they’re crucial. They’re popular with voters,” said Sharita Gruberg, vp of economic justice on the National Partnership for Women & Families. “The disconnect is with our elected officials really hearing that.”
“This was a historic midterm election,” she added. “Voters expect Congress to listen.”
“Pelosi, first woman speaker, to depart Dem leadership in seismic shift,” by Sarah Ferris for POLITICO: “Nancy Pelosi, one of the vital powerful speakers in modern U.S. history, will cede the helm of House Democratic leadership after 20 years and tackle an unfamiliar role: Rank-and-file member.
“Since she reclaimed the highest gavel in 2018, the primary woman speaker — whose legislative prowess has powered her party’s agenda under 4 presidents — planned to provide it up after this term. Yet her decision became more complicated, she has said, by the brutal assault of her husband Paul last month.
“‘I won’t seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the following Congress,’ Pelosi said to a packed chamber that remained pin-drop silent as members took in her decision.
“The Democrats’ better-than-expected midterm election prompted personal pleas for her to remain from the president and Senate majority leader.
“But in a floor speech attended by nearly every member of her Democratic caucus, including loads of teary allies, Pelosi declared it was time for a ‘latest generation’ of leaders. Clad in stark white, the colour of suffragists and her hue of selection for critical moments, the California Democrat delivered her farewell speech inside a chamber where she has been an element of Washington’s biggest moments for a long time.
“Recalling her first visit to the Capitol at age six, she name-checked her biggest political inspirations, from Abraham Lincoln to civil rights leader John Lewis, as she touted her ‘fundamental mission to carry strong to our most treasured democratic ideals.’”
“Bass elected mayor of LA over billionaire rival in historic win,” by Alexander Nieves and Lara Korte for POLITICO: “Rep. Karen Bass has develop into the primary woman elected mayor of Los Angeles, defeating billionaire developer Rick Caruso who waged the costliest campaign in town’s history.
“The six-term congresswoman and former state lawmaker overcame Caruso’s 10-to-1 spending advantage to win a detailed contest between two Democrats. She’s going to lead a city simmering with anger over homelessness and the rising cost of living in addition to recent displays of corruption and racism at City Hall.
“Bass is the second Black person to win the mayor’s seat in Los Angeles, which has a painfully divisive history demonstrated most recently by leaked audio of three City Council members using racist and disparaging language as they discussed manipulating voting districts.
“The win represents a political homecoming for Bass, who began her skilled life as a community activist fighting poverty and crime in South Los Angeles before embarking on a virtually 20-year political profession that took her through the state Legislature and Congress — and landed her on President Joe Biden’s shortlist of vice presidential contenders.
“The veteran lawmaker jumped into the race last September and quickly gained widespread backing within the Democratic Party, entering the first season as the favourite to win. As a substitute, Bass faced stiff competition through the finish line, as Caruso poured greater than $100 million of his personal fortune into the race, dominating the promoting landscape and altering the trajectory of the campaign.”
“Your cheat sheet on the nation’s 9 governors-in-waiting,” by POLITICO Staff: “Meet America’s latest class of governors — a various group of political newcomers and seasoned politicians who flipped party control, broke centuries-old barriers and helped deliver a record 12 female state executives nationwide.
“They’re historic firsts of their states and within the nation. They flipped governor’s offices blue in Arizona, Maryland and Massachusetts. And in Nevada, Republican Joe Lombardo’s upset win over Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak will reshape the balance of power in a key battleground state where Democrats run the statehouse.
“The nine newcomers will join a gaggle of governors who’re seeing their power and prominence expand on public health, jobs, abortion and gun rights because the economy teeters on the point of a recession.”
“Women led climate talks’ hardest topic: reparations,” by Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press: “Men normally outnumber and outrank women negotiators in climate talks, except relating to global warming’s thorniest diplomatic issue this yr — reparations for climate disasters.
“The problem of polluting nations paying vulnerable countries is handed over to women, who got the problem on the agenda after 30 years. Whether this yr’s United Nations climate talks in Egypt succeed or fail mostly will come all the way down to the problem called loss and damage in international negotiations, officials and experts say. It’s a difficulty that intertwines equity and economics, balancing the needs of those hurt and people who would pay.
“Nearly the entire key players are women they usually and others say higher gender representation could yield higher results.
“‘I believe what we’d like at this important time is empathy … We’d like to take into consideration our world within the sense of taking good care of our world,’ said Chilean Environment Minister Maisa Rojas. ‘Possibly culturally, historically, they’re seen as feminine values.’
“Rojas, a climate scientist, and Germany special climate envoy Jennifer Morgan engineered a last-minute deal that got the problem of loss and damage on the agenda for the primary time in 27 climate summits.
“Now that it’s on the agenda, the highest people attempting to get something meaningful done are women. And that gives hope, a top United Nations official said.”
“Ellen Levine, 79, Dies; Editor With Keen Sense of Women Readers,” by Ed Shanahan for The Recent York Times.
“Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is the primary woman to function a NASA launch director,” by Christine Chung for The Recent York Times: “‘Go for launch.’
“Words like these are sometimes uttered when a rocket is seconds from heading to space. On Wednesday, after a long time of American spaceflight and various launches, a lady shall be saying them for NASA.
“The Artemis I rocket, now on Launch Pad 39B on the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and preparing to launch for the moon on Wednesday, is counting all the way down to ignition. The ultimate decision shall be within the hands of Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, who has worked in spaceflight for greater than 30 years. As launch director, she’s the boss of the “firing room” in the course of the countdown, and the buck stops together with her.”
“CEO diversity slow to vary at the same time as U.S. boards hire more women and minorities,” by Rachael Levy and Ross Kerber for Reuters.
Beth Jafari will join Kelley Drye & Warren’s government relations practice upon leaving Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) office, where she has served as chief of staff since 2007. … Bronwyn Lance is now chief of staff for Rep.-elect Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.). She most recently was comms adviser for Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). (h/t Playbook) …
Radha Adhar is now special assistant to the president within the office of legislative affairs on the White House. She most recently was director of legislative affairs on the Council on Environmental Quality. (h/t West Wing Playbook) …
Shana Mansbach is now speechwriter and senior adviser to the secretary on the State Department. She most recently was deputy director of comms for Pelosi. … Madeleine Westerhout is now executive director for operations at American Global Strategies. She most recently was executive assistant to the CEO of Starch Creative and is a Trump White House and RNC alum. (h/t Playbook)
