Iowa women aim to make history

CEDAR RAPIDS — A group of Iowa women have set a lofty 10-year goal for gender equity for the state: Women will hold 50 percent of the seats in the state legislature and federal delegation by the year 2020, and Iowa will have elected its first female governor.

“This year marks the 90th anniversary of woman suffrage, and yet women make up only 23 percent of the Iowa Legislature,” said Monica Vernon, a Cedar Rapids City Councilwoman and board member of the new group 50/50 in 2020. “Iowans have never elected a woman to the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate, nor to the office of governor.

Monica Vernon (Photo: Lynda Waddington/The Iowa Independent)

“In this next decade, leading up to the 100th anniversary of woman suffrage, we want to remedy this situation.”

The women who have formed 50/50 in 2020 believe that “one century is long enough to wait for equity.” The group plans to achieve political equity for Iowa women by recruiting, training and mentoring women in sufficient numbers.

The bipartisan group was co-founded by two former Iowa legislators — Quad City Republican Maggie Tinsman and Iowa City Democrat Jean Lloyd-Jones — and boasts a 14-member board of directors comprised of women from across the state.

The group is not focused on specific issues, and does not wish for or push for female candidates to hold certain policy beliefs. It simply wants to give more women to be recruited for and to run for all levels of elected office in Iowa.

“We will conduct a three-day advanced training for women — the ‘Blueprint for Winning Academy’ — in 2012, complementing the efforts now being made by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University and the Iowa N.E.W. Leadership Program of the Women’s Resource and Action Center at the University of Iowa.”

The training session, which will follow reapportionment and redistricting, will be intense and predominantly for candidates that are seeking seats at the state level or above. Preliminary workshop topics include “assessing your network,” forming a campaign committee, communications, budgeting, public speaking, and debate preparation. In addition, women attending the training session will have an opportunity to meet with leaders from their own political party to discuss funding specifics and strategy.

Women who decide to become candidates will be matched with a woman office-holder to shadow in Des Moines or Washington, and will be connected with a mentor from within their own party for ongoing campaign advice.

“Ultimately, this is about more than just numbers,” said Vernon, who is currently the only woman on the nine-member Cedar Rapids City Council.

“Women bring a wealth of experience, education, common sense and hard work to public office. We see issues through a different lens, tend to include more citizens in the process, favor transparency in government and are natural consensus-builders.”

She added that women are “pragmatic” when balancing budgets and are more likely to serve as whistleblowers.

Although women make up 53 percent of registered voters in Iowa, are are historically more likely to cast their vote during elections, they continue to be under-represented at all levels of government. Recent changes, like the legislative call for gender equity on local boards and commissions, will help, but ultimately women simply need to run for office.

“It isn’t that Iowa doesn’t elect women to office — they just don’t run,” Vernon said.