As 19th Amendment Nears 100, Are Pa. Women Equal Yet?

by Cassie Hepler

DOES Katie McGinty’s strong senatorial campaign signal a new era for women in Penna. politics? Don’t be so sure….

Even though Hillary Clinton may be cracking the highest political glass ceiling in America, it’s not at all clear that she’s pulled it off in Pennsylvania.

How else to explain the numbers at the state level? Nationwide, the number of women in Congress has increased from 15 to 104 since 1971 – around 19%. Pennsylvania, however, sends not a single woman to its 20-member congressional delegation. That’s, um, 0%, is it not?
So women do face an uphill battle getting elected to office in Pennsylvania, if not across the USA.

In Philadelphia in particular, women journalists inquiring about the voices of women in public policy are usually referred to, ahem, spokeswomen. Keystone State male politicians may be loath to talk about women’s issues with women.

Nevertheless, tomorrow evening, many Philadelphia civic leaders, some of whom are women, will gather at City Hall to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
Women represented 20% of all state legislators nationwide after 1992, but have not beaten the 25% mark in 24 years. Down from a high of nine serving simultaneously in 2004 and 2007, only six women serve as Governors today.
Retirements, bids for other offices and primary defeats have hit Congress hardest, with the loss of 13 women. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) will be running for US Senate, and just four women remain in the hunt for open-seat nominations for Governor this year.

Fourteen Democratic women in the US Senate joined at the DNC podium. Sixty-two Democratic women total joined together on stage to celebrate women’s progress in politics. Katie McGinty, PA’s Democratic Candidate for US Senate is reported on the verge of upsetting incumbent US Sen. Pat Toomey according to the latest polls.

At the municipal level in Philadelphia, said Jovida Hill, executive director of Philadelphia Commission for Women, “more than 55% of the mayor’s top appointees have been women, including Chief of Staff Jane Slusser; Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs Deborah Mahler; Deputy Mayor for Public Engagement Dr. Nina Ahmad; City Treasurer, Rasheia Johnson; Exec. Dir. of the Mayor’s Office for LGBT Affairs Helen Fitzpatrick; Deputy Managing Dir. for Community Services Joanna Otero-Cruz; Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney; and the recent appointment of Cynthia Figueroa as the Commissioner of the Dept. of Human Services. And these are just a few of the stellar women appointed by Mayor Jim Kenney.”

But no man dared answer a slew of emailed questions. Instead, they sent women to talk to a woman.

“That the Mayor’s Office for Communications referred you to me certainly is not indicative of the mayor’s lack of interest,” said Hill.

“Women as much as men are involved in politics and always have been. Certainly women who work for advocacy organizations working to shape public policy are ‘in politics.’ Hundreds of women from both parties hold elected office as executive committee members and they too are ‘in politics.’” said Hill. “Six of 17 City Council Members are women (35%); Philadelphians need to elect three more women to City Council to be truly representative of the city’s female population, which is 55%.

“But Pennsylvania has not had a woman in Washington since Allyson Schwartz resigned her seat in Congress to run for Governor,” she added. “And there has never been a woman elected to the US Senate from Pennsylvania. There is still a lot of work to be done to send more women to the state legislature. My guess is that Philadelphia probably has the largest delegation of women in the state legislature.”

Next on Philadelphia women’s political agenda is “Women’s Equality Day,” Aug. 26, 2016, commemorating the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote in 1920.” This historic centennial will be touted with much fanfare in City Hall tomorrow.

One Philly politician who is a huge LGBT and equal-rights advocate is 1st Dist. Councilman Mark Squilla, who also had a woman speaking for him for this interview: Anne Kelly, Squilla’s chief of staff, who reportedly and ironically makes more than Squilla.

“Five of the 17 Council Members are women and one of the three City Commissioners is a woman. There are also many female judges who have been elected over the years, but they are not technically political,” said Kelly. “Politics is a 24/7 job, so it is difficult to manage a home life with such demands on your time outside the home. This may be the reason some women shy away from public life.”
“Women can become involved in politics by working on campaigns or advocating for causes that are important to them. I think having female candidates/officials excite women to become involved and perhaps run for office,” Kelly commented. “There are many informal clubs for women in politics. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown often organizes meetings.

“Councilman Squilla and I discussed the answers, but I sent the email as he is out of town,” Kelly explained.

It would be nice to see more men included in this movement and reaching out to women in politics. Mayor Kenney has made a good dent in the problem.

But ultimately, women will not advance in Pennsylvania politics until Pennsylvania men are prepared to back Pennsylvania women. As for Hillary, we’ll see how well she does here soon enough.

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