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We're talking about the womens' vote. They make up a majority of the registered voters in Ohio. But we're ranked fortieth in the nation when it comes to women in office.
Rep. Joyce Beatty said, "There are seventeen of us and that's far too few."
State Representative Joyce Beatty tells me women are outnumbered in the Ohio House. As Democratic Minority leader, she works to recruit female candidates. Senator Hillary Clinton running for president helps make her case.
Beatty said, "It is the most exciting thing to have someone as powerful as she is, who's getting her message out and to be able to be female and see a female - it's important to us."
Beatty says they've got strong group of Democratic candidates this year. Female voters could help them win in November.
Ellen Malcolm said, "We've seen a big increase."
Ellen Malcolm is the director of Emily's List. A group that works to get women involved in politics.
Malcolm said, "Women are a much bigger percentage of who's voting in the democratic primaries. Fifty-five to sixty-two percent in these primary states."
She also credits high-profile candidates with the increase.
Malcolm said, "Voters now see that women can win, they can do a good job in office and they're coming out and voting for them."
Voting for candidates like Cheryl Grossman. The Republican mother of two was mayor of Grove City for twelve years. A job she never thought about until a friend teased her.
Grossman said, "And i walked into a place he was one night and this was many, many years ago and he goes, you see Cheryl. She's going to be mayor of this city one day. And I could have crawled under the table, I really could have."
She says women in her party are also excited this election year. That encourages her as she runs for a seat in the Ohio House.
Grossman said, "I want to utilize some of the successes and some of the plans we have done here in Grove City on a little bit broader base."
Grossman is running unopposed in the primary. She'll face Keith Goldhardt in November's general election.
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Women in Politics |
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