State Voices

Emerge [Nevada] has definitely been a factor in women running for office, getting the skill set they need, understanding how to run a campaign, how to fundraise and just like giving them those practical tools to run. And then it also is like a sisterhood of support, which I think is beneficial in terms of getting women to run and getting them to actually win."

You need a lot of money or the ability to raise that [for a U.S. Senate campaign] because it’s a big state and you are playing at higher stakes. Same with governor – you are going to spend millions, whoever runs [for] these two [offices]. So you have to have that ability [to fundraise]. That’s where most women fall short. We don’t have the same connections. …Most women don’t have those connections. …It’s the ability to get the funding that you need to do this and the ability to raise it or supply it."

I think [party folks] are familiar and I think they know, when you get an Anstine woman as a candidate, you are getting a huge support network she can bring to the table. Her sisters will come out and work and donate. And you are also getting someone that’s been trained. …If you are a [party] chairman and you are looking at a woman who’s been through the Anstine Series and statewide they know it, you think, ‘Oh she’s got a network.’ …It’s clearly a plus."

If [women] came forward [to run for political office] they would be treated with the same [by the Republican Party], exact same treatment that we give everybody. You are not going to get a leg up. You’re not going to get a leg down. If you are the best candidate you’re going to get it."

I want merit. Gender is secondary."

You see women that struggle with the balance of power, their harmony in their families, what’s this going to do to me? I think women are much more thoughtful and much more methodical about the decision that they make…because they understand how it’s going to affect their immediate family and their family at large. Whereas a man typically, not always, but typically a man has the women behind the scenes that’s taking care of the kids and buying the groceries and making sure the dry cleaning gets home and all that, whereas a woman doesn’t have all that."

[Oklahoma is] a state that is not used to seeing women run the show, if you will. There are some very conservative religious values that undergird some of that, that make it difficult."

It’s taken quite a number of years but…we’re seeing those results as well as quite a number of women in local offices who have run and become successful, …women who are movers and shakers. They are lobbyists. They are doing great work and they support each other and know each other. And…it’s not all because of NEW Leadership [Oklahoma], but NEW Leadership certainly had the impact of knitting together a network of women who will support each other, pick up the phone, advocate, connect each other to certain things. And so in that sense, the impact [of that program] has been I think pretty significant."

I know that social justice work is multi-pronged and I understand that completely. And I understand how people would feel like elected officials aren’t doing enough to help the cause, and how elected officials look at the tactics and the things that activists use and don’t want to necessarily…engage in the same way, particularly in Oklahoma…[because] you just have to do certain things to get stuff done, right? And so I think that having people that can help facilitate that transition [from activism to officeholding] without making people feel like they have to abandon that same energy that they had to make a difference and to make a change…would be crucial."

I think that a lot of times, because we are in a society that has not been built for women to enter these [political] roles, we go through a lot of imposter syndrome."

We really tried to focus on looking at the needs of candidates from more of a holistic approach. So not just fundraising and campaign stuff but also the challenges that women face that are different than men. And then once you add women of color, you add rural areas and things like that, just how difficult that can be, and some of the things that traditional politics doesn’t take into consideration. And then we added a self-care component and we had a therapist come on, so really trying to make sure women or non-binary folks have the resources that they need to not feel so completely wiped out and still dealing with some PTSD from their campaigns. …This past year in the spring we talked about how you find your people – not just your people to work on your campaign but those people who are going to support you in all the ways that you need support during a campaign cycle. You don’t necessarily want to dump on your friends but you do need that support system because it’s hard. …What we’re building is something that hasn’t been done in our state. [Interview conducted in January 2022 before Harrison became the executive director of Sally’s List.]"

I think that there is minimal support [for women in Oklahoma politics]…and I don’t think it’s because there’s a lack of the attempt to have support. I think it’s just the fact that there are just a few people doing specific types of work and…one major thing is that a lot of the work being done is volunteer-led. …When you are not getting paid to do a very heavy lift for years at a time, you burn out, of course, but there is only so much you can do. And I think that is a major issue that I see. …I’m like, ‘Somebody should give me some money so I could go do this.’"