Women gaining more political power in New Jersey

The good news? According to Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, New Jersey ranks pretty high in the nation when it comes to proportion of women in the state legislature. The Garden State’s ranking is 11 among all the states. A couple of decades back, New Jersey always languished around the bottom 10, according to Jean Sinzdak, director of the Center’s Program for Women Public Officials.

The bad news? Improvements aside, woman lawmakers are still nowhere near parity with their male counterparts in state government. They make up 10 of the 40 state Senators, and 26 of the 80 state Assembly members.

“There’s been a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go before there’s real representation,” Sinzdak said. 

Members of the League of Women Voters of Burlington County are trying to do their part with an event on Tuesday (Dec. 9) night entitled: “Why Are There so Few Women in Politics and What Can We Do About It?”

One of the speakers will be Michele Tuck Ponder, former mayor of Princeton, attorney, activist and public policy expert. Also speaking will be Jacqueline Burke, an attorney and public policy expert who previously served as director of the New Jersey Women’s Policy Initiative.

The event will take place at Paulsdale, 128 Hooten Rd., Mt. Laurel, N.J.

 

Related link:  

Did you know a Mt. Laurel woman led the push for the 19th Amendment?

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This post is part of our South Jersey Politics Blog.