Question:  Why elect women?  Why now?  Haven’t we come so far?  Hillary Clinton was a fierce contender for President, and two women have been on the ticket for Vice President.  Doesn’t this show that women are equal and that we have leveled the playing field?

Answer:  NO!

The statistics speak the truth:

The United States ranks 89th in the world for women’s political involvement.

Since 1789 only 2% of members of congress have been women.  At the current rate of progress, it will be 2076 before women achieve equal representation.

Current members of congress:

Senate -100 members  – 17 women (17%)

House – 435 members – 72  women (17%) (20 of the women are from California)

Three states have never had a woman represent them in Congress:  Vermont, Iowa and Mississippi and currently 17 states have no woman representing them in Washington.

In state government, nearly 25% of elected legislators and officials are women.  Many states rank far below ranging from only 10 to 13%.  Colorado leads the country with 40% females serving in the state legislature and at the bottom is South Carolina with just 10%.

Women serve as governor and lead just six (6) states in 2011: Oklahoma, Arizona, Washington, South Carolina, New Mexico, and North Carolina.

Among the largest cities in the United States eight women hold the office of mayor. Among cities over 30,000, 16% of the mayors are women.

*Data courtesy of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University