"Fifty-four percent of women voted for Gore, handing him the popular vote that had been widely predicted to go to Bush.  If men alone had voted, Bush would have won the presidency hands-down." Ireland said.  "Women voters defeated incumbents, increased the number of women governors and senators, and brought new feminists to the House."  (See Women's Vote Makes the Difference.)

"In Congressional and gubernatorial races, feminists are cheering the strong women's rights supporters elected by women voters.  The gender gap resulted in a 33 percent increase in the
number of women senators and women governors, and one woman was elected governor without
support of the majority of women," Ireland said.

"That's a much more encouraging way of saying we have gone from three to five women out of
50 governors and nine to 12 (or 13 with Maria Cantwell) out of 100 Senators and still have much more work to do before 2002!"

"A combination race-and-gender gap also made a significant impact on the outcome of  numerous elections," Ireland said.  "If white men only had voted in New York and Delaware, women's rights in these two states would have been left in the dust."

"Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Mark Dayton
(D-MT) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) will be joined by Jean Carnahan (D-MO), widow of the late Missouri governor, in holding the line in the Senate."  Clinton, Stabenow and Carnahan will be the first women Senators from their states.

"Mel Carnahan called me just before announcing his veto of the Missouri abortion procedures ban, asking NOW to back him up on his veto and in his senate race," Ireland said. "NOW looks forward to working with Jean Carnahan, who shares her late husband's politics and will bring her own priorities and experience as a women to the Senate."

Ruth Minner was elected governor of Delaware, with 69 percent of the women's vote.  Women also returned Jeanne Shaheen to the governorship of New Hampshire despite her refusal to take a   no-income-tax pledge.  Vermont Governor Howard Dean was re-elected with a strong 56 percent of the women's vote, despite being targeted for signing the civil unions bill into law.  A majority of men voted for his opponents.

In what commentators had predicted to be a close race, Clinton's sweeping victory in the New York Senate race was the result of 61 percent of women voters, 91 percent of African American voters and 85 percent of Hispanic American voters giving her their support. Women voters ensured Stabenow’s victory over untraconservative  incumbent Sen. Spence Abraham (R-MI) and conventional wisdom. In California, feminist candidates for the U.S. House Susan Davis, Jane Harman and Hilda Solis also defeated incumbents.

As poll results are re-counted, NOW is launching an emergency campaign to save the Supreme Court by bringing pressure on Republicans in the Senate, targeting races in 2002 to increase feminist representation in the Senate and taking advantage of redistricting to do the same in the House.

"Feminists will pull out all the stops to elect more women's rights supporters to the Senate and House in 2002," Ireland said. “With new seats in freshly drawn districts, the country can expect to see more women running for Congress and winning."

"The Senate is already improved with Clinton, Stabenow, Carnahan, Corzine, Dayton and Nelson. But while Majority Leader Lott reigns, the Senate will still be hostile toward women's rights and any Supreme Court appointees who are not political conservatives. While the five new feminist Senators surely will shake things up and put up a good fight, we intend to send them reinforcements in two short years."

Women Voters Make the Difference in Key Races

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