skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Analysis: Women Poised For Gains in MI House

play audio
Play

Wednesday, August 20, 2008   

Lansing, MI – "A woman't place is in the House...and in the Senate!" This 1970s rallying cry is making a comeback, because women could be big winners in the Michigan House this fall, if the numbers of females running is any indication. About 100 women, a record number, filed for House seats; and almost half the state's November races include a female candidate.

Those numbers improve the odds that the current 20 female members of the House could increase, according to Barb Fuller, director of MI List, a Michigan women's advocacy group. Although the election is more than two months away, she's ready to make some predictions on the outcome.

"I am confident that the voters are wanting change, and believing that women can do at least as good a job as the people who have gone before them. I think we're going to see record numbers of women in the State Legislature after November."

A study by the political newsletter Gongwer finds that women have lost numbers in the Michigan House in each of the past five elections. However, Gongwer predicts that this year the state likely will retain a 20-member delegation and could approach the record high of 31 female members set a decade ago.

Fuller points out that Michigan isn't alone: Women candidates have increased in numbers across the country in recent years because attitudes have changed and doors have opened.

"Some of the things that have held women back in the past were a reluctance to step forward; not feeling as though they were adequately credentialed; not having the confidence that they could raise the money that they needed to win or to run an effective campaign. These have changed."

Fuller stresses that electing women isn't just about numbers or gender. It's about public policy, because women bring a different perspective to government.

"Women don't run for office to be celebrities. They run because they see themselves as champions of their communities -
of their neighbors, of their families, their parents and their grandparents. Women run to make a difference in the quality of life of the people who elect them."

She says groups such as Emily's List provide support to women candidates, and contributions to women by individuals also have increased. Information about MI List is available online, at www.milist.org.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021