National NOW Times >> Fall 2011  >> Article

Elections: Women's Rights Hang in the Balance

The 2011 special elections and the 2012 elections provide crucial opportunities to replenish Congress with women's rights supporters who will fight back against this year's relentless attacks on women.

Special Election Victories in 2011

NOW is celebrating two recent special election victories by NOW/PAC-endorsed candidates Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) and Janice Hahn (D-Calif.), with thanks to NOW phoners from across the country and the tireless efforts of NOW leaders in Rochester and California.

Kathy Hochul won the May 24 special election in New York's 26th Congressional District. The race for this congressional seat, in a historically Republican district, centered on the controversial Ryan budget, which passed in the House but was defeated in the Senate.

Hochul adamantly opposed plans outlined in the Ryan budget that: convert Medicare to a private voucher system; put future Social Security cuts on a fast track; and slash Medicaid, family planning, job training and other programs that disproportionately serve and employ women. Let's hope the positive voter response to Hochul's message serves as a lesson for other candidates and a harbinger of the 2012 elections.

Former Los Angeles Council member Janice Hahn resoundingly defeated Tea Party darling Craig Huey (R) in a run-off special election in California's 36th District on July 12. The run-off followed a May 17 special election primary for the seat vacated by retiring Rep. Jane Harman.

Huey, an extremist who opposes LGBT rights and abortion in all cases, also relentlessly argued for ever larger tax breaks for corporations and multimillionaires -- paid for with spending cuts devastating to women and families.

In contrast, Hahn confirmed her status as a champion for women and girls by voting against the harmful debt ceiling bill that Congress passed just before the August recess.

NOW/PAC has also endorsed Suzanne Bonamici (D) in the special election to fill the open seat in Oregon's first congressional district. The crowded primary will be Nov. 8, with the general election on Jan. 13, 2012. Bonamici served three terms in the Oregon State Legislature, rising to assistant majority leader in the State Senate. A strong leader on women's issues, Bonamici would be the only woman in Oregon's congressional delegation.

2012 Races to Watch

NOW/PAC has endorsed two women for open seats in the Senate. Representative Shelley Berkley is running for the seat left open by Sen. John Ensign. In Connecticut, former State Representative and Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz is running for the seat that will be open with Sen. Joe Lieberman retiring.

Senators previously endorsed by NOW/PAC and up for reelection in 2012 include Democrats Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Diane Feinstein (Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.). NOW/PAC is determined to help reelect these candidates so they can return to the Senate to defend against attacks on women.

In the house, NOW/PAC has endorsed long-time NOW member Lois Frankel (D) in the 2012 fight for Florida's 22nd Congressional District seat. Frankel, former mayor of West Palm Beach, also served 14 years in the Florida House of Representatives, where she rose to the position of Minority Leader.

Frankel is challenging Republican Allen West, a Tea Party favorite who referred to those who fight for women's equality as "women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of incredible weakness."

This kind of right-wing lunacy is just one example of why the 2012 elections are so crucial. Lois Frankel and the other NOW/PAC candidates can turn the political tide, and all of us must help them do it!