Jo Freeman: With the 116th Congress the Party Gap has Become a Party Chasm

The party gap is not new but it has been largely ignored. Pundits have plotted the growth of women elected to public office without noting the distinct partisan difference. For example, they report that women will be 28.9 percent of all state legislators in 2019, ranging from 14.2 percent in West Virginia to 50.8 percent in Nevada, but don’t provide the breakdown by party in each legislature.

It was in the state legislatures that the party gap first emerged, in the 1980s. In 1981, women were about 12 percent of both the Republican and Democratic state legislators. Their proportion among the Democrats rose slowly but steadily to over 31 percent by 2009. Among Republican state legislators the proportion of women rose more slowly, flattened out in the mid-1990s, and fell as the new century began.

The party gap moved to Congress a decade later. In the 101st Congress (1989-1990) women were 6.4 percent of Republicans and 5.6 percent of Democrats. Party distribution shifted with the 1990 elections; in the 102nd Congresswomen were 4.7 percent of Republicans and 6.8 percent of Democrats. In 1992 election, often called "the year of the woman," there was a big increase in the number of Democratic women elected, but only a small one for Republicans. In the 1980s women had been a greater proportion of Republican than Democratic M.C.s.

Two Native American women were sworn into House of Representatives, Jan. 3, 2019: (Top: Sharice Davids and below, Deb Haaland)

Sharince Davids

The absolute number of women in the state legislatures increased annually until the Republicans took over most of those bodies after the 2010 elections. As a result, 210 Democratic women lost their seats, but only 145 Republican women were added to the female roster. The total number of women has been climbing ever since, but much more rapidly among Democrats than Republicans. The preliminary count indicates that there will be 1,427 Democratic women and 664 Republican women (plus 3 independents) in the 2019 state legislatures.

The gender gap does not explain the party gap. While women are a greater presence among grassroots Democrats than Republicans, the party gap among elected officials is far larger than this alone would predict. The Democratic Party is doing something right by women. The Republican Party would do well to figure out what it is.

Jo Freeman has published 11 books, including three books and many articles on women and politics.

www.jofreeman.com

http://www.seniorwomen.com/authors/authorpageFreeman.html

http://www.publicseminar.org/author/jfreeman/

Notes:

Puerto Rico elects a Resident Commissioner. Five other non-states elect Delegates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-voting_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives

Source for number of women: https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/women-in-116th-congress/401/

Democratic Caucus: Included in the Senate denominator are the two Independent men who caucus with the Democrats.

There is one empty seat in the House due to a contested election in North Carolina’s 9th CD. Both contestants are men. Which one is finally awarded that seat will affect the denominator for that party but not the numerator.

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Jo Freeman: With the 116th Congress the Party Gap has Become a Party Chasm

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