In State Legislature races, it’s ‘The Year of the Women’ in Massachusetts

Kate Albright-Hanna says that, like many women, she has often been “the person behind the person.”

She was director of online video for President Barack Obama’s campaign. She also created a documentary about Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, and was deputy campaign manager for an effort to convince U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president.

But this year Albright-Hanna is the candidate, running for state representative from the 1^st Franklin District.

“In the atmosphere of #MeToo, and in the wake of the Trump administration, it just felt like one year I and other women needed to stand up and take that lead role in trying to create the world that we have been pushing for for so long,” Albright-Hanna said.

Albright-Hanna is in good company. Nationally, record numbers of women are running for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Some have dubbed 2018 “The Year of the Woman.” 

In Massachusetts, according to a rough tally by The Republican / MassLive, there are about 105 women running for the state Legislature, compared to approximately 85 women each of the last two election years. The numbers are not exact, since they are based primarily on candidates’ names and do not count write-in candidates.

After the 2016 election, there were 12 women in the 40-person Senate and 39 women in the 160-person House.

Kaitlyn Maloney, associate director of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, said the group is considering 40 re-endorsements for state candidates who they have supported over the years — and another 40 candidates are seeking their endorsement for the first time. The group only endorses female candidates who support abortion rights.

“We’re seeing many women who were totally ignited by the 2016 elections and who ‘marched and then ran,'” Maloney said, referring to the women’s marches in 2017 that drew millions of people nationwide to support women’s rights after Republican President Donald J. Trump’s election.

Nationally, many liberal women have been galvanized to participate in politics as a backlash to Trump administration policies they dislike. Many women have been inspired by the #MeToo movement, which has seen women in all industries sharing stories of assault and harassment. 

“Certainly, the #MeToo movement has been instrumental in encouraging women to run,” said Meryl Kessler, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. “As the Women’s March showed in January of 2017, a lot of women are feeling energized and concerned about the state of our democratic institutions, about some of the policies that the current administration is implementing.” 

Graphic by Greg Saulmon / The Republican

Kessler said with frustration mounting about politics in Washington, many women feel they can make more of a difference running at a state and local level.

Albright-Hanna, a Democrat, says she was struck by what the #MeToo movement revealed about how women are treated in the workplace – whether as waitresses or nurses. She hopes having more women in office can correct the “power disparity” and change the demographics of the people crafting laws. 

“There’s certain things that never cross the mind of men, especially men in Congress who are overwhelmingly millionaires or more wealthy than the general population,” Albright-Hanna said, pointing to a recent Federal Election Commission ruling that candidates can use campaign funds to pay for childcare while campaigning.

Mindy Domb, a Democrat running for state representative from the 3^rd Hampshire District, said she previously worked behind the scenes on campaigns for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey. This year, she said, “There’s this wave in the state and throughout the county in terms of women taking leadership roles and not only being behind the scenes. I think we’re all getting stronger, we’re supporting each other, and that allows people to do things they might have once thought about and disregarded.”

Domb said she is excited to be “part of this cohort of progressive women in Western Massachusetts where we all have the opportunity come in as a big wave into the Legislature.”

Domb said she thinks female candidates continue to be held to different standards than male candidates, and women tend to consider their decisions differently when deciding whether to run. She has met many women who thank her for running, and young girls who are excited about her candidacy. “It may not be just gratitude, it may be a recognition that it can be hard for women,” Domb said.

Not all the women running are liberals.

Allison Werder, the former president of MassLive, is running as a Republican in the 2nd Hampden District against incumbent Democrat Brian Ashe.

“Someone hadn’t run against our representative in six years. It was time someone stepped up and gave it a try,” Werder said.

“I think we need more qualified people in politics, period, but I do think we need more women in politics,” Werder said. “I do think women need a seat at the table in our government.”

Werder said women may have different priorities or view issues differently, particularly if a woman is running a family.

If women were better represented on Beacon Hill, Werder said, that could help address some of the “bad behavior going on in our Statehouse.” She was referring to a state representative who said she was sexually harassed as a legislative staffer, then required to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

One political opportunity created by the renewed focus on sexual misconduct came when former Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, was forced to resign after an ethics report found he gave his husband, who was accused of sexual misconduct, undue access to Senate business.

Chelsea Kline was the only candidate to file signatures in time to challenge Rosenberg, although three men and another woman have since declared write-in campaigns. Kline had her own #MeToo moment when she accused one of her opponents, Dave Murphy, of making inappropriate comments about her appearance. 

Kline said she raised the incident publicly because it reflects the barriers women face. 

“This is one of many hurdles to women running for office and one of many hurdles to women gaining and achieving credibility in the professional realms, that they are constantly judged and evaluated on their looks, on the tone of their voice and all these superficial things without acknowledging the depth and breadth of their experiences and their skills and what they bring to their professional worlds,” Kline said.

Many believe there are still hurdles for women running for office. 

Albright-Hanna has been asked many times why she is running with two young children at home. “There’s an undertone there, which is can she handle the job if she has young children?” Albright-Hanna said. Her husband has never been asked that question about his job.

Natalie Blais, a Democrat running for the 1^st Franklin District, said she is running now because the opportunity opened up with Rep. Stephen Kulik retiring. She previously worked for U.S. Reps. John Olver and Jim McGovern, and is executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. 

Blais said she always thought about running for elected office “one day” when her children were older — they are now 10 and 11 – but when Kulik’s seat opened up, she felt she had the qualifications to run. “I think a lot of women make that choice and do decide to run later when their children are older,” Blais said.

Blais sees value in having more women in government. “I believe I’m the most qualified candidate, period, end of story,” Blais said. But, she added, “Being a woman and a mother defines who I am as a person, and I will certainly bring that perspective to Beacon Hill.”

Linda O’Connell, head of the Springfield League of Women Voters, said there are more leadership programs today geared toward encouraging women to run for office. But at the same time, women historically have not been as successful fundraising as men. Women are more likely to be told, or to feel like, they should “wait their turn” if there is a more experienced candidate. 

“It’s difficult to run as a woman without your gender being on someone’s mind,” O’Connell said.

Kessler said women are more likely to need to be asked multiple times before deciding to run. Women are more likely to be primary caregivers, whether for children or aging parents.

Yet for some women, the decision to run had nothing to do with gender or the national climate. Diana Szynal decided to run for state representative in the 1^st Hampshire District after her boss, Rep. Peter Kocot, died.

“I wasn’t planning on doing this,” Szynal said. “This was a reaction to a devastating loss, an understanding that I’m in the best position to step in and move the district forward.”

“I think that women today are really adept at managing priorities and juggling public service and jobs and families, and I personally don’t feel any barriers to public service,” Szynal said.