Still in election news, I'm so proud of New Hampshire. They have elected the first all female delegation featuring Senate incumbents: Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Kelly Ayotte (R) are Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McLane Kuster. They will also have a female Governor, Maggie Hassan. They also elected their first openly transgender state representative, Stacie Laughton. Congratulations to Ms. Laughton, for putting another crack in that barrier, which is marred with nastiness, mud-slinging and lawsuits that make me miss the 2012 Primaries.
Despite women making apparent gains this year, and making up more than half of the electorate (and general population) only 90 of the 535 seats in our Congress are held by women. In the 112th Congress (2011-2012) 93 women served (counting 3 Delegates). Women aren't the only inequality in our fair, representative government: in the 112th Congress, we had 43 African American members of the house (includes 2 Delegates), and none in the Senate. There are 31 Hispanic/Latino members of Congress(includes 1 Delegate), 12 Asian/ Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders in Congress and 1 Native American in the House.
Note: I'll update this when the final numbers for the 113th Congress are finally released. *shakes fist* curse you Jesse Jackson Jr for messing up my demographic counts.
So what the hell is going on? We surely can't blame this representative inequality solely on the mostly white male GOP. What is wrong with us as a nation that so few minorities are able or willing to run for office. I'm grateful that Romney, if nothing else, proved that you really can't just buy an election. But money does increase visibility, and we live in a democracy split between well-informed voters and those who vote solely based on name recognition or the basis of "not that person". How can we encourage a political environment where a person's ideas count more than their outsides or their genitals?
Despite women making apparent gains this year, and making up more than half of the electorate (and general population) only 90 of the 535 seats in our Congress are held by women. In the 112th Congress (2011-2012) 93 women served (counting 3 Delegates). Women aren't the only inequality in our fair, representative government: in the 112th Congress, we had 43 African American members of the house (includes 2 Delegates), and none in the Senate. There are 31 Hispanic/Latino members of Congress(includes 1 Delegate), 12 Asian/ Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders in Congress and 1 Native American in the House.
Note: I'll update this when the final numbers for the 113th Congress are finally released. *shakes fist* curse you Jesse Jackson Jr for messing up my demographic counts.
So what the hell is going on? We surely can't blame this representative inequality solely on the mostly white male GOP. What is wrong with us as a nation that so few minorities are able or willing to run for office. I'm grateful that Romney, if nothing else, proved that you really can't just buy an election. But money does increase visibility, and we live in a democracy split between well-informed voters and those who vote solely based on name recognition or the basis of "not that person". How can we encourage a political environment where a person's ideas count more than their outsides or their genitals?
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