ProgressWomen

courtesy of blogs.longwood.edu

Designed to examine voters’ attitudes toward women candidates and elected officials on both sides of party lines, this poll explores whether voters agree with the President and their beliefs about the disparities in leadership between women and men.

The statistics are widely reported: Women make up only 17 percent of Congress but are over 50 percent of the U.S. population. Even President Barack Obama believes Congress would get more done if there were more women in Congress, saying, “I think it’s fair to say: That is almost guaranteed.”

Here, we give you a first look at our findings:

• An overwhelming majority of voters believes it is important to support a qualified woman running for elected office (80% say this is very/somewhat important and 51% say very important).
• To motivate voters to vote for women candidates, it is best to focus on how women elected officials are in touch with real life.
• Among young women voters, it is also effective to highlight the gap between women’s representation in Congress in relation to proportion of the general population.
• Voters sense that there are not enough women currently in office and the nation would be better governed if there were more women in office than there are today.

Click here to view the full report.

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation advances women’s equality and representation in American politics through non-partisan political research, strategic partnerships, and grants and endowments.To learn more  visit www.barbaraleefoundation.org.