State Voices

Being a mom and a wife [was another concern that made me hesitate on the decision to run for office]. We have a very close-knit family and so that was something that was also very scary – just feeling like I was abandoning my kids. …I don’t know that that really has anything to do with being a woman, but I think that that’s probably a reality for anyone with kids at home. So for me that was really scary."

And so [being the youngest Republican official] creates this awkwardness where I get concerned about having more rumors spread about me because I hang out with my male colleagues. I remember telling one of my colleagues this session, ‘Sometimes I just feel really alone,’ because if you’re [with men] your age that are in that same life period with the small kids at home, then you are automatically sleeping with them. But then…women you’re hanging out with – their kids are already grown, they have grandkids. …I feel very alone sometimes in this building because I worry about the perception that I’m giving off if I’m hanging out with men."

The one thing that did happen to me and to one of my colleagues as well – she looked pretty young, even though she was in her 30s – we had the Sergeant at Arms on two different occasions for her and one for me, I was in the elevator and I asked the Sergeant at Arms…’Are the interns allowed to go on the House floor with us or are they not?’ He said, ‘Well no they’re not and I don’t know who you are but you’re not allowed on the House floor either.’ And I said, ‘Well, I am the representative for House District 83 so I sure hope that I can because my name’s out on that desk.’"

Funding-wise, in addition to the Republican side, the Democratic side is pretty similar in that people will write checks with extra zeros to the men of the party and then women will get a much smaller check. So the women are having to put in a lot more time and effort into fundraising and getting people to volunteer and knock doors because men are automatically assumed to be qualified and [it’s assumed] that they should be there and should be running and that’s just the natural thing and they are going to be successful. And so the money effort is there for [the men] and that is not the case for Democratic women."

We talked a lot about getting women elected…but what we’re not discussing is the other power plays that we need to make. We so often think about the person who’s out front but we don’t think about the team that’s behind them who…make it happen. And I think that we need to be very intentional about recruiting them as well. …We need to focus on the people that really make that machine work and turn and keep it well-tuned and oiled and not just focus on who we’re going to put out front and who’s going to sit in this seat because I think that’s where the impact really happens. …So I think so from the secretary on up to the policy directors to the legislative writers to the press folks, like all those seats need to be strategically and intentionally – put some women in place."

Institutionally, I think there’s an acknowledgement [that] women have been doing the work and particularly we need to give credit to Black women. We need to support Black women and we need to elevate Black women and let them actually have the roles of leadership that align with the informal work that they’ve been doing. So I think that’s a little bit of just a cultural shift that has been happening in the [Democratic] Party for a long time. We’re in a state where Black women absolutely run the Democratic Party in Georgia, which makes us better."

I also think there’s a good amount of…women kind of supporting each other behind the scenes when they happen to have those good relationships. …For example, …the newest group of female senators in the state Senate, they are their own little squad. They have a group chat. They’re public about their friendship and support of each other. …It’s not a tangible – it’s not a structured organization. Emerge alums are starting to have those groups on their own, but it’s a lot of that just kind of informal, ‘How can we keep supporting each other?’ [Interview conducted in April 2022.]"

Activism is…really foundational to the work of the [Democratic] Party. …I would hope that any Democrat that is working in politics understands and recognizes the strong foundation that women of color have laid for any of us to be able to do our work now."

They can’t say [it] out loud but I’ve had certain legislators come to me and say, ‘Oh, you all need to stop with that Black girl magic stuff,’ because they are feeling some kind of way. Do I care? No. And do I put them in their place? Absolutely. Like, you want me to feel sorry for you, right now? It’s not going to happen. So there is some – I don’t know if I call it resentment from men that are like, ‘Women are getting too much shine. Women are getting too much attention.’"

Sometimes [Black women] come into offices and are fighting within the office so persistently [to prove] themselves, and not having the ability to actually get the work done, and having to please so many different groups of people. I think our traditional elected [isn’t] pulled in so many different ways."

As a Black woman, …you are always fighting for your Blackness and your womanness and who are you trying to fight for and represent most. And it’s a lot. …And [when] you are hit with sexism and racism at the same time, it can be very hard. And I think I’m hitting glass ceilings in board rooms that I hadn’t hit before. And they’re political white liberal board rooms so it’s pushing me more to corporate, it’s pushing me more to foundations, because what I’m seeing is white male fragility in a liberal sense, and it’s exhausting."

I think I’m…[the] only Black female firm in the state that does this type of [public affairs] work. …So when we’re not in the room, who is representing that voice? But being the one in the room alone at times is incredibly draining. [Interview conducted in April 2022.]"