FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MELINDA SHELTON, 767; DIANE MINOR, 773

CAMPAIGN '96: WHEN THE GENDER GAP AND SOCCER MOMS MEET FEMINIST POLITICAL ORGANIZING

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1996

NOW President Patricia Ireland analyzes the reasons behind this year's gender gap in a recent newspaper column. Ireland points to both the flurry of legislative breakthroughs on women's rights after the so-called "Year of the Woman," and the frustration many women -- not just the pundits' "soccer moms" -- felt at the harsh rollbacks of the Gingrich-Dole Congress.

Yet feminists ranging from soccer moms to high school students are concerned about fair play for women and girls in athletic programs. So that's one of seven issues covered in an unprecedented online feminist voters' guide, which together with video clips and other key information was rated as "Web Site of the Day" by CNN. A corps of young feminist volunteers are providing the research for NOW/PAC to rate more than 200 candidates for Congress in 33 states. Check it out at: http://www.now.org/pac/1996/

Young feminists -- high school and college students -- are making a visible difference in several important races around the nation. They will storm North Carolina next week to provide a final infusion of support for U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton and Senate challenger Harvey Gantt. Hundreds of young feminists will be out in California cities like Long Beach and San Diego to close the increasingly narrow margin needed to defeat an anti-affirmative action ballot measure. And in New Hampshire, feminist college students are challenging local officials who have been making it difficult for them to register to vote.

While some national PACs spend big money on TV ads and hot-shot consultants, a recent New York Times article noted that few progressive groups have the powerful grassroots of the women's movement. Even in a year like 1994, various state and local NOW PACs helped elect 511 people to all levels of government.

NOW PICKS '96 RACES TO WATCH

NOW activists are providing strong backing to feminist candidates -- a diverse mix of women and men, incumbents and challengers -- in a dozen tight races.

• NORTH CAROLINA Gantt's campaign praised NOW's get-out-the vote efforts in his primary. Activists will do everything they can to help him unseat Sen. Jesse Helms. And they want to make sure Clayton makes such a strong showing this year that it will scare off any challengers in the likely event she faces re-districting in her next run.
• GEORGIA Rep. Cynthia McKinney credited NOW for a wider-than-expected, 10-point margin in her primary. NOW leaders have joined local activists in supporting McKinney, who may have benefitted from a majority-Black district before, but is now a proven politician with the mettle to stand up to neighbor Newt Gingrich.
• LOUISIANA Activists are backing long-time NOW friend Mary Landrieu -- a former state treasurer who made a recent gubernatorial bid -- in her race for the U.S. Senate. As a state legislator, Landrieu was a stalwart advocate for women's rights, sponsoring important legislation on domestic violence and child support.
• CALIFORNIA In addition to their highly visible opposition to Proposition 209 (California NOW President Elizabeth Toledo has been featured frequently in the national media), NOW activists are also supporting strong feminist candidates for the U.S. House -- a host of incumbents and challengers Michela Alioto, Anita Rufus, Loretta Sanchez and Ellen Taucher.
• NEW HAMPSHIRE National NOW leaders have been stumping for gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Shaheen and congressional candidate Deborah "Arnie" Arnesen in District 2. Activists are trying to replicate a turn-out-the-student-vote effort that was essential in defeating an anti-lesbian and gay ballot initiative in Maine last year.
• NEW YORK Long Island NOW activists are working hard to elect longtime NOW member Nora Bredes for the U.S. House. She is an example of a candidate NOW has nurtured for years. Bredes has gone from being a long shot to a race to watch.
• OREGON NOW's phone banks, mailings and networking helped Darlene Hooley beat all contenders for the right to challenge right-wing U.S. Rep. Jim Bunn, R-Ore. Hooley faces an uphill battle, but a new NOW chapter formed around her candidacy.

Well-known candidates in 20 other states -- Sen. Paul Wellstone in Minnesota, Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, Nydia Velazquez in New York -- have also passed NOW/PAC's extremely stringent endorsement criteria by taking progressive positions on key feminist issues. For a list of those candidates, see NOW's web site or contact NOW's press department for a complete press kit.