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Nationwide the number of female statehouse leaders has doubled in only 7 years:

Female state lawmakers are moving into leadership roles in unprecedented numbers, overseeing their legislatures’ daily business, shaping states’ political agendas and, advocates say, laying the groundwork to get more women elected.

This year, 58 women lawmakers were chosen as legislative leaders — senate presidents, house speakers, presidents pro tem — a 20 percent gain over last year’s 48 and more than double the female leaders in 2000.

The gains come at a pivotal moment for female politicians, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running for president and Nancy Pelosi the first female speaker of the U.S. House.

Having female legislative leaders will influence the public and fellow lawmakers, they hope, changing attitudes so more women seek public office and more voters choose to support them.

My knowledge of state political history doesnâ€™t cast a long shadow, but I don’t think our record on female leadership is that strong. Weâ€™ve had a pair of failed gubernatorial bids, a couple Congresswoman, and a not a whole lot else.

Question: When will the next female leader break through in Illinois? What position? Who?

posted by Paul Richardson
Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 7:49 am

Comments

who are these “advocates,” and where were they when Illinois had the opportunity to elect it’s first female Governor?

Comment by grand old partisan Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:23 am
sorry for the double post….but, just for good measure… we have had a female as Treasurer, Attorney General, Comptroller, as well as in key leadership roles within both parties in both chambers (just not the 4 tops).

I think that’s actually not too shabby.

Comment by grand old partisan Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:27 am
GOP…good point on the Constitutional officers.

But what is next? Governor is the obvious answer I suppose…Madigan 2010.

Besides that?

Comment by Paul Richardson Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:33 am
gop, Judy was and still is a great public servant. She was abandoned by her own party before she even got started. No woman - or man - can win with that kind of handicap.

Comment by Suburbanon Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:38 am
Lisa 2014 maybe, but Blago is almost certainly going to run again. Where else could he go?
The idea is probably that he sails into a third term on a sea of cash provided by one or other of the various tax proposals being touted presently.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:51 am
It’s tempting, but don’t forget Carol Mosely Braun - the first African American woman elected to the US Senate.

Comment by Underdog Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 8:55 am
Braun, of course…Oy, how could I have forgotten that one.

:-/

Comment by Paul Richardson Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:00 am
next female leader to break through in illinois: sheila simon. she’s going to become carbondale’s next mayor due to the grassroots campaign she’s mounted, the buzz she’s created in this once sleepy college town and the fact that she’s inspired people normally not civically engaged to get involved. i hope that when durbin decides to retire, sheila will be ready to represent us in the u.s. senate! she’s warm, sincere, bright and articulate and a downstater…someone we can all be proud of!

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:04 am
Three of the four deputy leaders in the General Assembly are women: Barbara Flynn Currie, Christine Radogno and Debbie Halvorson.

Comment by Old Elephant Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:05 am
Corinne Wood was Lt. Gov. under Edgar.

Comment by Anon from BB Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:23 am
Melissa Bean will be Lt. Governor at some point.

Comment by Just Observing Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:39 am
I believe Corinne Wood was LTG under George H Ryan

Comment by ndpotus Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:44 am
Shelia Simon? Please. Change her name to Smith and she couldn’t punch her way through a paper bag!

Newly elected state Sen. Linda Holmes has all the makings of a great future leader. She is smart, good on her feet, and understands Illinois isn’t going to be blue for ever. As well, Holmes has earned her way, not been the “free pass” you folks have handed Shelia.

Young Tony Berrios is also making small waves. Although she is well connected, she doesn’t have Shelia’s famous last name!

Comment by mADDOG22 Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 9:59 am
young Berrios…..you must be joking.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:13 am
I would like to see Madigan 2010. I think she’s been a great attorney general. And I expect that she will be a great governor. I hope her and her daddy are making the necessary plans and I don’t think we need three terms of the incumbent.

I don’t know who else can come along though as far as women being leaders in this state.

Comment by Levois Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:17 am
In the future 2/3 of legislatures will be women. It will mostly be wives of rich men. Typically it will be the type of women who get recruited for non-profit boards because they have the time and money to be involved.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:34 am
Melissa Bean as Lt. Gov?

Why leave a U.S. House seat to be Lt. Gov?

Wasn’t Bob Kustra on the verge of quitting as Lt. Gov. to host a radio show?

Who has jumped from Lt. Gov. to something better?

Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:36 am
Linda Holmes is there because of Emil Jones’ money, not because she earned it. She’s not that well liked locally. She told me I had to vote for her because she was a woman, well, so was her opponant. She didn’t seem to have many original ideas.

Comment by Blue Girl Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:45 am
I don’t know the answer to this question, but what I can say is that we haven’t even moved past the point of using the terms “committeMAN” and “chairMAN” in our system.

People don’t often realize to what extent Feminism relates to the business of electoral politics and that this is one of the Key Values of the Green Party.

This goes far beyond just recognizing women as equals and guaranteeing them the same rights, protections, and privledges. To quote our platform:

“We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender.”

This is why the Green Party strives to make all decisions by consensus, using a formal consensus process, rather than by simply voting on everything.

There are people that argue that the Green Party is simply a more liberal version of the Democratic Party. That’s not true. We’re on a whole different spectrum. We see the Democratic and Republican parties are sharing some key values which which we happen to disagree. For example, they’re both the parties of BIG–either big business or big government–not decentralized, diversified, “community based” economics like the Green Party, who believes in running things on a sustainable, and responsive, “human” scale.

Is this possible? Sure it is. The UK is learning this right now, as we speak. Take a look at this BBC News story for more about that.

Comment by Squideshi Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:57 am
My Predicition, the next “Break Through” will be Lisa Madigan, Governor, 2010.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 11:12 am
no doubt about it, its My gal Lisa Madigan. One of the best politcal teams in the state. Rod will have some serious legal problems by then.

Comment by Apple a day Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 11:27 am
Linda Chapa LaVia for Congress in 2008. Bye bye Denny.

Comment by ThePiper Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 11:37 am
Think Denny’s seat will go to a Republican, but we shall see. I think it has to be Lisa Madigan. And to claim Sheila Simon is grassroots when the Chicago machine is all over that election is obtuse. Not hearing good things about Linda Holmes locally, she is not playing well to her constituents.

Comment by leigh Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 12:18 pm
I think Macon County Auditor Amy Stockwell will defeat Frank Watson in 2008 and become the next Penny Severns of the party.
She has been a great office holder and a raising star of the party.

Comment by grimmer Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 12:50 pm
“When will the next female leader break through
in Illinois?…..” Let’s start with that question.

Why assume that next female leader means one
woman? why not just state that there are new
women in leadership in State Legislative positions
and women are likely for key municipal and
Congressional, etc. races?

or that we need more women in leadership
positions. it’s not about
one woman; it’s about getting closer to 50%.
Frankly, the recent gains in Senate leadership
are long overdue. The percentage of women alive
is just over 50%. That’s our goal, not one
woman in “leadership.” Ask yourself if other
groups, well, other than white men, are as
silent as women on the issue of adequate
representation. Ask yourself
if it was easy for women to gain those new
leadership positions and whether some men
vocally opposed
those appointments as more of an impediment
to them than those of new appointments of men
in leadership positions.

women are under a microscope for all sorts of
things, especially in politics. let’s put
the microscope on inequality and get louder
about changing things.

rich, thanks for this topic. wow, women’s history
month is going a few days into April!

Comment by Amy Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 12:56 pm
I strongly thought Lisa Madigan would be a shoe-in. But the way she’s handled the Blagojevich corruption scandal makes me think she lost a lot of credibility. Party politics or not, breaking the law(s) is still breaking law(s). Too bad Lisa, you had your chance……

Comment by HOMETOWN, U.S.A. Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 1:51 pm
My money is on Lisa Madigan to be governor in the next election. I would not be surprised to see Sheila Simon advance in statewide politics over the next few years…to what position I do not know.

Comment by Boone Logan Square Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 3:59 pm
grand old partisan, are you referring to Dawn Clarke Netch with your 8:23am post?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 4:33 pm
This all depends on two things. First, who wins the Carbondale mayoral election? Second, who would be appointed if Barack wins the presidency? If Sheila Simon loses, she will not move up far but she could be a name to consider when Jerry Costello steps down. If Barack wins, Lisa could easily garner the Senate seat, although I think she wants to hold out for the governor’s seat. My money is on Simon.

Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 5:00 pm
My bet for next up and comer is,
1.Linda Chapa-LaVilla
2.Senator Iris Martinez
3.Toni Berrios
4.Lisa Madigan

Comment by Proviso citizen Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 7:10 pm
If Linda Chapa LaVia builds her profile in Springfield (as she has done) and remains in the legislature she will rise quickly.

She should give very serious consideration to giving the Congressional run a pass this time.

She should do all she can to be the leader of the county and bring further funding back to her home base.

This is the time her influence is needed.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:04 pm
I like LaVia for Congress, although she’d make a better Governor. Linda Holmes was forced on us by the Aurora area Democrats and now can’t be found at all in the district. Uncle Emil has her bought and paid for.

Comment by Blue Girl Wednesday, Apr 4, 07 @ 9:08 am
Linda Chapa LaVia could run for county board.
An unknown Democrat ran against the current Kane County board chairman. He spent $4,555.57.

Chairman McConnaughay spent $183,827.90 and was over $4,000 in debt at the end of the campaign.

Think what Chapa LaVia could do with $10,000?
The difference in campaign spending is proposterous, but true.

I guess the consultants needed to be paid. Early and often.

Comment by Doing Research Wednesday, Apr 4, 07 @ 2:39 pm
Rep. LaVia should stick with the Congressional run, or for Governor in 2010. Linda Holmes should run for County Board Chairman. The Aurora Democrats need to find someone against Weisner.

Comment by Blue Girl Sunday, Apr 8, 07 @ 9:19 pm