Mississippi Women Rising?
By Brother Rogers
In Mississippi, a woman’s place is not yet in the House – or any other federal office. But this year’s elections prove they’re getting closer.
For the first time in Mississippi’s history, two women are running against each other for State Treasurer. State Personnel Board Director Lynn Fitch won the Republican primary runoff and will face Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran, a Democrat, in November. In addition, State Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is the Republican candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture, a traditional male political job if ever there was one.
Only two women have ever been elected to statewide office in Mississippi. Oktibbeha County’s own Amy Tuck served as lieutenant governor from 2000 to 2008. She defeated another woman in her 2003 reelection bid marking the first time two women ever faced off for a statewide office in Mississippi.
The trailblazer for women in statewide office was the legendary Evelyn Gandy. She was elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1948, and later became the first woman in the state to serve in five state government positions: Assistant Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Welfare, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Insurance and Lieutenant Governor. The latter three are statewide elected positions. In 1979 she narrowly lost a gubernatorial bid.
Mississippi has much room for improvement in electing women to office. We rank 47th in the nation in the percentage of women in our state legislature (a paltry 14.4 percent). We are ahead of Oklahoma and South Carolina, but ironically both of those states have female governors. Alabama ranks 48th, but in 2010 they elected two women to Congress for the first time, and have women now serving as lt. governor, secretary of state and state auditor.
Mississippi is one of four states (Delaware, Iowa and Vermont are the others) that have never sent a woman to either the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives. Our neighboring states have fared better. Mary Landrieu is currently a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who was defeated last year, was the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. Marsha Blackburn, the only Mississippi State University alumna currently in Congress, represents a district in Tennessee. As mentioned above, Alabama made history last November when two women, Martha Roby and Terri Sewell, became the first women from that state elected in their own right to Congress.
Mississippi’s history of supporting women in politics is not good. The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote was passed in 1920. Nevertheless, Mississippi was one of only two states in the nation that did not allow women to vote in the presidential election of 1920. Eventually Mississippi was the only state that had not ratified the 19th Amendment. We finally did so…in 1984!
During his final year in office in 1988, Senator John C. Stennis often was asked by the media, “After 41 years in the United States Senate, what is the single greatest change you have witnessed in American government?” Without hesitation, he would reply, “The increased involvement of women in political leadership.” He always added, “It’s a good change; it’s good for the country.”
Still, the potential for women’s leadership in Mississippi has barely been tapped. To meet the complexities and challenges of our time, we must draw on the intelligence, strength and talent of women as well as men. It makes no sense to operate with one hand tied behind our back.
The Stennis Center for Public Service has conducted numerous programs promoting women in leadership over the past 20 years. Rex Buffington, who leads the Stennis Center, was asked when he would know that this effort had worked. “When we have to conduct programs to attract men to public office,” he said. That shows how far we have to go, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.
In Mississippi, a woman’s place is not yet in the House – or any other federal office. But this year’s elections prove they’re getting closer.
For the first time in Mississippi’s history, two women are running against each other for State Treasurer. State Personnel Board Director Lynn Fitch won the Republican primary runoff and will face Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran, a Democrat, in November. In addition, State Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is the Republican candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture, a traditional male political job if ever there was one.
Only two women have ever been elected to statewide office in Mississippi. Oktibbeha County’s own Amy Tuck served as lieutenant governor from 2000 to 2008. She defeated another woman in her 2003 reelection bid marking the first time two women ever faced off for a statewide office in Mississippi.
The trailblazer for women in statewide office was the legendary Evelyn Gandy. She was elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1948, and later became the first woman in the state to serve in five state government positions: Assistant Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Welfare, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Insurance and Lieutenant Governor. The latter three are statewide elected positions. In 1979 she narrowly lost a gubernatorial bid.
Mississippi has much room for improvement in electing women to office. We rank 47th in the nation in the percentage of women in our state legislature (a paltry 14.4 percent). We are ahead of Oklahoma and South Carolina, but ironically both of those states have female governors. Alabama ranks 48th, but in 2010 they elected two women to Congress for the first time, and have women now serving as lt. governor, secretary of state and state auditor.
Mississippi is one of four states (Delaware, Iowa and Vermont are the others) that have never sent a woman to either the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives. Our neighboring states have fared better. Mary Landrieu is currently a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who was defeated last year, was the youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. Marsha Blackburn, the only Mississippi State University alumna currently in Congress, represents a district in Tennessee. As mentioned above, Alabama made history last November when two women, Martha Roby and Terri Sewell, became the first women from that state elected in their own right to Congress.
Mississippi’s history of supporting women in politics is not good. The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote was passed in 1920. Nevertheless, Mississippi was one of only two states in the nation that did not allow women to vote in the presidential election of 1920. Eventually Mississippi was the only state that had not ratified the 19th Amendment. We finally did so…in 1984!
During his final year in office in 1988, Senator John C. Stennis often was asked by the media, “After 41 years in the United States Senate, what is the single greatest change you have witnessed in American government?” Without hesitation, he would reply, “The increased involvement of women in political leadership.” He always added, “It’s a good change; it’s good for the country.”
Still, the potential for women’s leadership in Mississippi has barely been tapped. To meet the complexities and challenges of our time, we must draw on the intelligence, strength and talent of women as well as men. It makes no sense to operate with one hand tied behind our back.
The Stennis Center for Public Service has conducted numerous programs promoting women in leadership over the past 20 years. Rex Buffington, who leads the Stennis Center, was asked when he would know that this effort had worked. “When we have to conduct programs to attract men to public office,” he said. That shows how far we have to go, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.