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In these tough times, it is important to be aware of progress and victory when working to save America itself.
For the first time this year, women are making up a majority in the California Senate. In both rooms, 58 women (record-high) serve. This will only be two seats from gender equality, making California the largest global economy and one of four US states to have a Congress that is 50% of women. For the first time, the majority of the committee is chaired by women.
For me, it’s a great moment. why? Because it’s important to someone in the room where decisions are made for our families and our community. It’s not just numbers. It’s about policy. When sitting around a table discussing family issues at home, you need to express every voice to fully understand each individual’s problems and find a working solution. That’s just common sense.
The year I arrived in the US Senate – 1992 – was called the “Year of Women.” Even if we tripled the numbers in the Senate, we only went from 2 to 6, so I always thought it was a big exaggeration! So we’re 6% of the Senate and the media called it a big win. Please don’t get me wrong. That was the start, and 26% of the senators are now women. But it was a slow grind to get there. And it’s 24 seats that still don’t reflect the country’s gender balance. That’s why it’s worth noting what’s happening in California.
The Golden State’s path to parity was not a coincidence of California’s liberalism. A new report from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University highlights a strategy that accelerated the number of women in Congress. In 2013, female representatives were tracking a fall to just 22% of 20 years’ lows. We were moving backwards.
One group of activists has noticed that targeted recruitment of women in certain districts could be a game-changer. They launched an organization called Close The Gap, and in the next decade, the number of democratic women elected to the California Legislature more than doubled from 23 to 47 seats. California leapt across the country from the 19th to the 4th for women’s state legislative representatives.
What made this work? The report gives much credit to the early strategic targeting of winning districts, personalized coaching for candidates, and the incredible network of organizations working to select more women.
When I first took office, there were very few resources for women who wanted to run. In fact, before I ran for county supervisor, I established the first chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus in Marin County. When I ran for the US Senate, a new group called Emily’s List helped female candidates access fundraising like never before. Today there are multiple groups that provide political training to women and PACs that support and fund female candidates. These organizations have compressed their timeline for Sacramento’s parity for over a decade.
When we think about painfully slow progress towards parity in Congress, we wonder what we can learn from California.
The 1991 Anita Hill Hearing encouraged a generation of women to take political action. The past decade has provided a powerful moment of its own that sparked change. From the “me too” movement to the devastating subversion of Roe and Wade, women are angry. But anger is not enough. True change is built through collective commitment to strategy, organization, and action.
At the heart of this transformation is the power of expression. When women see other women wielding influence and sorting out their decisions at the highest level, they start to believe something clicks and that change is not only possible but within reach.
I know firsthand the power of expression. When I traveled the state as a senator, the young girl ran to me after the event and said, “You’re like me! Maybe I’ll be a senator one day.” And I don’t think they’re just talking about the fact that we were the same height.
Our democracy is an ongoing, constant work, and we cannot afford to take it for granted. There is no self-satisfaction luxury. Frankly, we have to continue organizing and innovating because our interests are too high. Here’s the song that organizes my favorite organization: The past generations fought and won for great profits. The new generation must take up the mantle and push it even further.
I look forward to a future where every woman in every community has the opportunity to shape decisions that will affect her life. The future is defined by powerful and clever women who step up to run for political offices of all kinds, and those who organize in the long term to help them win.
Barbara Boxer represented California in the US Senate from 1993 to 2017. She also served as a Marine County supervisor for 10 years in the House of Representatives and six years.
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