State Voices

I think that Speaker Madigan worked hard to get Democrats elected throughout all of Illinois. And I think that was his objective…to do whatever he could to get Democrats in these seats. I think that he – from what I’ve learned – cares about women. …I do think that it may be through a lens of what they think is viable. That’s the problematic part. I think that that is not unique to Speaker Madigan at all. I think it is not unique to white men. I think it’s just men in general. I think it’s who defines viability without some kind of metrics."

So when you have a lot of Black women running for these high power roles, they would feel more comfortable having a Black woman as their campaign manager because they are about to face things that no one else can face and they want to be able to explain and communicate that to someone who understands. So it makes sense that they would want that. And then you wonder, is that why so many white men have hired white men as their campaign managers? Maybe. But I do think that you want someone who you can speak to but you also want someone who can speak to the electorate. And when the electorate is continuing to shift in color and race, …you want your team to also be diverse. But I do think that what I find is that it’s harder to find women of color in leadership who are willing to do this [type of work]."

I also think there’s a perception once you win [elective office] with the traditional lobby corps…that women, especially Black women, don’t know how intricate the tax code is. …I am very aware of how hard it has been for someone like [Assemblywoman] Daniele Monroe-Moreno to be taken seriously as a leader and what she feels like she has to do to overcorrect the perception that she’s ultra-liberal, that she doesn’t care about business, that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, that she doesn’t have the skills. …She had to prove herself to the lobby corps that she knows what she’s talking about, and that’s stupid."

There are still plenty of times where I feel like I need to speak up on a call for the sake of speaking up, not because I have anything substantive to add but [because] I want to make sure that I’m lifting up the ability of other women to speak on the call who are younger because I do think that there is still that place where it’s hard. …Men will say whatever the fuck they want with no regard for anybody else’s opinion. …Especially in this political ecosystem, they will just talk to talk. …Or they will make a point that a woman just made five minutes ago. So I feel like I have to pay it forward a little bit on those kinds of calls."

When I was part of the [Anti-Harassment, Equity, and Access Panel] with Melinda Bush and Carol Ammons, at the time one of the biggest barriers to entry [into politics] that women faced was childcare. …As a result of that listening tour that we went on across the state, Melinda introduced legislation that now allows for candidates to be able utilize their campaign funds to pay for childcare. And if you think about this, it’s not just the candidates running for office and their kids. It’s like, for example, if I want to host an event for women or I want…to do phone banking with a whole bunch of women…maybe that’s their first entry into politics, volunteering for a campaign. But they’re not able to because they don’t have anyone to watch their kids and it costs money. A candidate can utilize their funds to [pay for] people taking care of the kids while the moms are on the phone calling everybody. …That alone is going to open up some doors, and women are going to get bit by the bug. Not because they decided to run for office tomorrow, but because it was as simple as volunteering to help someone else and feel a part of something special. And then that might make you think I just helped so-and-so get elected, maybe that’s something I could do down the line and be an even better example for my kid. …Every obstacle [that] gets taken down is one more opportunity."

One of the things that we really focused on…is creating more opportunities for women either by actively recruiting female candidates to run for office or appointing female candidates when vacancies arise. And that’s something that – at the time I talked to the speaker about and said, ‘Look, you can be the guy that is having to manage a growing group of women that got there on their own or you can be the guy that actually pursues filling appointments with qualified women and creating [this] example of what can happen with good female leaders in charge.’ And so I think, you know, those are the kind of conversations that women have with men in power that are – ‘You can do more, right?’ …And this is always what we should be striving to do. …When we’re in the room with the guys that are the major power players, [we] cannot be afraid to have those discussions and not be afraid to keep pushing the envelope on what is possible."

I do think that there are still a number of traditional values that are held by this state that are probably not held in other states. …The Bible Belt is called the Bible belt for a particular reason. I’ve gone back east and you hardly ever see a church or it’s been turned into a restaurant. Here there’s an active church on every corner. Not that these are particularly preaching biblical values, but at least…they support the notion of a nuclear family specifically. So I think that that is possibly the reason why [women are underrepresented in Oklahoma politics]."

I don’t want us throwing women out of the house and away from their kids to do something political. …My kids were small when I started my advocacy but they would either come with me where I went or I had somebody who was there at the house for them while I was gone."

Liberals tend to believe that it’s somehow men shutting women out or closing doors – glass ceiling, low pay, whatever it is. …I run in a number of different circles and have been interactive in the legislature for 15 years and I do not believe that is the case. I believe in general women just don’t gravitate toward [elective office] and…the majority of women, I would believe – even if it might be a close majority – the majority of women, I believe, see their role as mother and wife and probably not so much [an elected official]. But again, that’s my supposition…I’ve not done any research on that topic."

You still have that male dominance – men think that they should be in charge and what they say should be the rule of law. But…women, we’re no longer sitting back at the table and listening to what men say. That is over. That is over. We’re [taking] our stance and we’re speaking loud and we’re being bold about our stance. …There’s a woman’s time and I think that the men know that. And I think they are afraid that women are going to take over. So the men are afraid…because we’re coming and they see us coming."

And so a lot of times…I am told that I need to choose between being an activist and being a politician. But I cannot choose because I think you’re better when you can be both. My legislation and what I do is derived from my activist role and the role that I play in my community."

We’re so naïve to the bias that they don’t even recognize that there’s a problem. So no I don’t think that, I think [party leaders] are definitely an impediment [to addressing women’s political underrepresentation]. On one side they may not even realize it and the other one I think [it is] freakin’ intentional."