Is 2018 the Year of the Woman Candidate in Michigan and Across the U.S.?
It’s still unclear if the wave of women running for office will yield results.
This year has been informally labeled as “The Year of the Woman” in the political realm. Three hundred and nine women have filed to run for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the most ever in a single election year.
Between the Women’s March that graced the mall in Washington DC – and many cities throughout the country – the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, and rise of the #MeToo movement, it’s clear women throughout the nation feel empowered to lead a movement of substantive change.
We may be seeing that political wave play out right here in Michigan as well. If Gretchen Whitmer were to win the Democratic nomination for governor, that would put women at the top of all the major statewide races for Democrats — governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and U.S. senator.
What leads, historically, to waves of women running for office, and how often to waves beget results?
Kelly Dittmar, assistant professor of political science and Center for American Women in Politics Scholar, and Cheyna Roth, Capitol Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, join Detroit Today to talk about the field of women running for office in Michigan and throughout the nation.
To hear from Dittmar and Roth, click on the audio player above.
