Dear Friend of OpenSecrets,

Today is International Women’s Day. As the election season kicks off, now is a good time to consider the road to more representation for women — both in Congress and state legislatures.

It’s no secret that Congress and state lawmakers are less diverse than the U.S. population, especially for women and people of color. Still, women now make up over a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress and 31% of state legislatures — an all-time high in U.S. history.

And yet, barriers still exist that make it more difficult for women, particularly women of color, to fundraise and win elections compared to their male counterparts. 

Below are the stories of four women who unseated incumbent members of Congress in 2020 that demonstrate how women from a range of backgrounds holding diverse political convictions can run, fundraise and win.
Reps. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.)
Republican lawmakers Steel and Salazar raised $6.3MM and $3.7MM, respectively in their successful election bids. Steel, the first Korean-American woman to serve in Congress, received large donations from individuals (as well as $1.9MM of her personal funds) to help secure her victory.

Like Steel, Rep. Salazar, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, managed to do what many women candidates cannot and effectively tapped large donor networks who contributed substantially to her campaign.

Both women faced tough odds against incumbent, moderate Democrats, and had to knock on new doors to raise cash in a Republican party that is 86% male in Congress. Despite the lack of gender parity, GOP women donor groups continue to grow, with the number of female Republicans in Congress nearly doubling in 2020.
Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Marie Newman (D-Ill.)
Reps. Bush and Newman raised considerably less than Salazar and Steel ($1.2MM and $1MM). Both ran to the left of their incumbent Democratic counterparts, campaigning on social justice and economic equality to activate Democratic voters and donors.

Bush, who is the first Black Congresswoman in the history of Missouri, relied on small-dollar donors who made up over 55% of her total fundraising. Rep. Newman, who is white, gained more traction from Democratic PACs as well as large donors, with small donors making up less than 36% of her haul.

These two races show a pervasive trend where Black women candidates receive significantly less money from large donors and PACs than any other group of candidates.

All four women are part of a larger story of the ongoing push for gender parity and demographic representation at the highest level of American politics.

Our country still has a ways to go to bridge the gap, as OpenSecrets data shows that political donors continue to be majority white, majority male, and significantly wealthier than the average household.

Want a deep dive? I invite you to read more in our 2021 report: Which Women Can Run? The Fundraising Gap in the 2020 Elections' Competitive Primaries.
Friend of OpenSecrets, when we started this research, we asked: “How can we support efforts to achieve a more representative and equitable democracy, what role does money in politics play in upholding a lack of diversity, and, most importantly to advocates, what role might money be able to play in ultimately electing a Congress that looks more like the people it represents?”

Since this report was published, we have been expanding our research to zero in on primaries where the real gatekeeping for candidates occurs. We will continue to reveal dynamics that influence who gets a competitive advantage in the 2022 elections, but we need your help. 
 
Would you support our research today with a gift, and power our ability to clearly show the influence money has on who is represented in American politics?
Give a Gift that Powers our Research!
With gratitude,


Sheila Krumholz
Executive Director


P.S. I will join a group of women experts this afternoon to discuss campaign finance at RepresentWomen's 2022 Solutions summit. Please click here if you'd like to register for the event. Or you can reply to this email if you'd like me to send you a recording of the session.
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