Girl power: 40 percent of Arizona’s state legislature is made up of women
Oct 2, 2017, 4:25 AM
(Facebook Photo/Arizona Capitol Museum)
(Facebook Photo/Arizona Capitol Museum)
PHOENIX — Arizona’s state legislature is 40 percent female, making it the state with the most female-heavy legislature in America.
According to The Hill, the number of women in the state’s legislature is up to 35 and is expected to increase in the coming years.
More than 18,000 women contacted EMILY’s List — a political action committee that aims to help elect women to office — about running for office, the group’s spokeswoman told the publication.
The state with the second-highest amount of female legislators is Nevada, which is made up of 39.7 percent female legislators. Vermont, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, Maine and Oregon also have legislatures that are made up of a third or more women.
According to Katie Ziegler, who runs the Women’s Legislative Network at the National Conference of State Legislatures, “There’s a surge of interest among women in running for office right now. People talk about making a really concerted effort to recruit women.”
Rose Mofford (Photo: Facebook/Arizona Capitol Museum)
Arizona has a long history of electing women to office. Arizona was one of the first states to elect a woman to Congress, with Isabella Selmes Greenway in 1932, and four of the state’s last six governors have been women.
The state’s first female governor was Rose Mofford, who was elected to office in 1988. She passed away last year.
State Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita told The Hill that there is a “cowboy mentality” in Arizona.
“There’s a lot of women in politics in Arizona. We have a cowboy mentality here, if you want to get involved and be active and engaged in your community, you can,” she said. “We don’t have that many barriers to entry, so to speak.
