We have a tremendous opportunity to influence the culture of the state Legislature through this year’s elections in western Massachusetts.
There are five significant races in the region that have Democratic primaries Sept. 4 with at least one woman running. These women are each smart, competent, and experienced, and they are ready to take on leadership roles.
Women make up 51.5 percent of the population in Massachusetts but only 26 percent of the state Legislature. Thirteen of the 40 state senators (32.5 percent) and 39 state representatives out of 160 (24.4 percent) are women. It’s time for this to change.
Across the nation, more women are running for political office — and winning in the primaries. This year in 121 Democratic primary races that included at least one woman, one man, and no incumbent, the female candidate has won 70% of the time, according to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, an independent, nonpartisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns.
Why does it matter whether more women are elected? I believe that having more women in office can lead to changes in the ways policy is made. Traditional studies of the differences between men’s and women’s leadership styles indicate that women are more collaborative and less hierarchical than men. Women tend to mentor others and try to create transformative change while men tend to be more competitive and transactional in their decision-making.
The Pew Research Center has found that many Americans view women as more compassionate and organized than men when it comes to leadership. The same study also found that, in terms of political leadership, a majority of people give women a bit of an advantage over men on qualities such as ability to compromise, honesty and ethics, improving quality of life and standing up for one’s ideals.
In the current Legislature, it seems that female leadership might allow lawmakers to accomplish more in terms of education funding, affordable housing, health care and restructured income taxes. It would help if there was more collaboration and less of the “you give me this and I’ll (maybe) give you what you want” kind of deal-making.
If you are a registered Democrat or an unenrolled voter, I urge you to get to the polls on Tuesday, Sept. 4 to pick up your Democratic primary ballot and vote for a woman in these races:
Four women are running for the 1st Franklin District seat that Rep. Stephen Kulik is vacating: Kate Welch Albright-Hanna, Natalie Blais, Christine Doktor and Francia Wisnewski.
In the 1st Hampshire District, two women are on the Democratic primary ballot to run for the seat that was held by the late state representative Peter Kocot. They are Lindsay Sabadosa and Diana Szynal.
In the 2nd Hampshire District, where state representative John Scibak has served for the past 16 years but is not seeking re-election, Marie McCourt is on the Democratic primary ballot.
In the 3rd Hampshire District — a seat held for 25 years by state representative Ellen Story — the incumbent Solomon Goldstein-Rose first deserted the Democratic Party and then decided to drop out of the race. Mindy Domb is the woman on the ballot in the Democratic primary.
Chelsea Kline is the only candidate on the Democratic primary ballot for state Senate in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District, where Stan Rosenberg stepped down earlier this year. However, Jo Comerford is among three write-in hopefuls.
I’m not suggesting that you vote for these women just because they are women. I’m saying vote for these women because they are smart, talented and they care about changing the way we govern our commonwealth. I hope to see you at the polls!
Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, of Easthampton, is the academic dean and director of first-year seminars in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.