State Voices

On the Republican side, [the support infrastructure for women in politics] has been a little bit more stable frankly. …Since I assumed this position, [the Republican Party in Pennsylvania] has had the Anne Anstine Series which has consistently had funding and leadership and [they] are always recruiting women. They have a really strong mentoring program. And so to be a part of the Anstine program you are kind of brought in through somebody like a mentor. So there’s a really strong wonderful system built in for the Republican Party to tap into."

In Pennsylvania in particular there’s been a lot of focus on statewide judicial races. …There’s this belief that women can win here in the judiciary and it actually, it seems to have some ripple effects outside of the judiciary. People are just starting to see that women are running and winning. And so the parties seem to be much more willing to focus on recruitment even if, again, [the] women within their respective parties [are] doing the work."

I’ve definitely observed, on the Democratic side, female state legislators – once they assume office [and] especially in the last decade – have made strong, serious, explicit statements and attempts at diversifying their party and doing it through candidate recruitment, but also ensuring that those candidates have funding for their campaign."

I’m only third generation free. The vote is sacred to me and I don’t care what you do or say, I’m going to always fight like hell to make sure I have the right to vote, okay? Not only that, as a member of the military, I was willing for more than 20 years to lay down my life, if I was called to do that, to lay down my life for this freedom. And I’ll be dog-gone if anybody is just going to take it away on a political whim."

I think that the day will come, I don’t think it will be another decade, but the day will come when there will be a Black woman who’s elected to statewide office [in Nevada] and I don’t think that person will be me and I’m okay with that. But I think the things that I have done, that Bernice Matthews – who was the first Black woman [legislator] – has done, that Dina Neal – who was the first Black woman in the Assembly – [has done], Danielle Monroe Moreno – who was the first Black woman to be designated as the assistant majority leader. I think all of the things that we have done collectively have moved this discussion forward. And the day will come very soon when we will not be denied that office, statewide or into Congress."

I do my best work when I’m underestimated. Everybody who interviewed me [as a candidate] said the same thing [of my opponent]: ‘He’s an entrenched politician. He’s got a tremendous war chest and we’re not sure how you can beat him.’ And I said on one interview to the person who was saying, …‘Well, yeah, you got a lot of good things that you are saying and I really believe that you want to do what you are saying, but I just don’t think you can overcome this. This is going to be too big of a challenge.’ And I said to the person, ‘I’m a Black woman. Hard, I know. Easy, I have to learn. This has been my life. And so I’ll tell you what, sit back, get you a bag of popcorn and watch this.’"

[In] the last two years, I’ve known of more women who, when they talked to law enforcement about the kinds of threats they received as a result of their public service, [they] ended up with police vehicles on their street as a safety precaution because the law enforcement officials who were called deemed that specificity. …Threats because of your public service is a part of serving in office and they’ve always been received, but I think…in the Trump era, those threats have been more nasty and…seemingly more serious. …It requires a greater dose of courage to run for office these days in the face of the kinds of threats women, of those currently serving, are facing. [Interview conducted in November 2021.]"

The contract lobbyists…wield an extraordinary amount of power through their access to money because they make the recommendations to their clients [on] how much to give and to whom. So the absence of women in that space might make a difference."

Symbolic annihilation — that is what they do to us. As women, as minorities, as Latinas [and] women of color in public spaces where we are not supposed to be. I am the DA. I am the number one law enforcement officer in my circuit. I walk into a room with my counterparts of law enforcement. I am the only female head. And guess what? They’re white. They’re Black. I’m the only Latina. …I embody this. I am the symbol. It’s not about me, Deborah. That’s right. It’s about there is somebody there who should not be there challenging the status quo. …So when I heard that phrase, ‘symbolic annihilation,’ it puts so much in perspective to me about what I’m experiencing. Because if I was to quit, that’s not enough for them. They don’t want me just to go away. They want to destroy me because of what I symbolize to people in my community. …It’s saying, ‘Look what we did to her. We’re gonna do the same to you.’ …To me, that phrase explains so much about the struggle when you are changing systems, when you are challenging the status quo. It’s not about you as that person, it is about what you symbolize and that needs to be destroyed."

Running for state legislator was fairly different than running for [district attorney]. …A lot of those organizations that endorse [in legislative elections], don’t endorse DA races. …I had to find…different groups that would endorse, but they were all concerned about, ‘Oh, it’s connected with judiciary and that should be nonpartisan. And so we can’t do that.’ And I’m like, ‘No, guys, you need to really look at these races.’ …These races…are determining what’s happening in our criminal legal system."

I think there’ll be more pressure on the Republican side to not see [more representation of women]. I mean, some would want it but I think there are certain members of their base that don’t want to see that and they have a higher proportion of white men as part of their base and especially…ones [who] feel like white men are being disadvantaged these days."

And the Democrats have done a really good job, even though it’s identity politics, which Republicans, I think, are now kind of starting to lean towards to some degree but that’s not really in our DNA. Democrats have done a really good job with identity politics. And they still have the group, I believe, called Emerge. …We had Silver State [Excellence in Public Service Series] on our side and that fizzled out. Why? I don’t know."