The second most populous state in the nation, Texas, entices visitors with the proud claim “It’s like a whole other country!” While women make up half the population of this unique and politically important state, their voices are grossly underrepresented on the political stage. In 2011 Texas ranked 35th in the country in terms of the proportion of women in the state legislature, with women holding just 19% of Texas State Senate seats and 21% of seats in the House. Most concerning is the state’s recent backwards slide in terms of women in politics. In 2009 and 2010, the state ranked 25th in the country for percentage of women in state legislature with 43 women out of a total of 181 state legislators. In 2011, however, women in the Texas legislature lost five seats to men, leaving just 38 women to represent half of the states’ population.
These abysmal numbers send a clear message that there is much work to be done to bring women’s voices to decision-making tables in the state. The good news is that the Lone Star State is full of diverse and passionate women leaders like Jenny Le, the subject of our most recent Leadership Spotlight, who are committed to tackling these disparities head on—and we couldn’t be more excited to work with over 130 of them at our signature Go Run training this weekend in Dallas! This weekend-long training is dedicated to equipping these future candidates with the skills to run and win. We can’t wait to be moved and inspired by the work this group of courageous women are doing to continue the progressive strides made by the likes of Barbara Jordan and Sandra Day O’Connor in making the election of Texas women the rule rather than the exception!
Follow this weekend’s training and join the conversation by following us on Twitter @twhp and using the hashtag #GoRun!
