women in office

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Scratch That: Iceland Just Misses Electing a European First

Women did not actually take a majority of parliament seats in Iceland's election

(Newser) - Update: After a recount, it was determined that Iceland actually did not elect the first-ever European parliament with a female majority Sunday. Initial results showed women won 33 of the 63 seats, but the recount showed the true number of wins for female candidates was 30, or 47.6% of...

Republicans' Recruiter Stuns Party by Retiring from House

Susan Brooks is one of 13 GOP women in chamber

(Newser) - This won't help her numbers: The congresswoman leading her party's effort to put more Republican women in office has decided to leave the House. Rep. Susan Brooks is one of 13 GOP women on the House side; 89 House Democrats are women, per the Washington Post . Brooks, who...

Brazil Elects First Woman President

Dilma Rousseff takes 56% in runoff vote

(Newser) - Brazil has elected its first woman president: Dilma Rousseff took the top slot after yesterday’s runoff election. The former energy secretary and chief of staff to president Luiz Inácio da Silva declared in her victory speech that her “mission is to eradicate poverty,” CNN reports. A...

7 Women Who Might Beat Palin to the White House

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's resignation has fueled talk of a presidential bid, but the first female occupant of the Oval Office may yet be a Democrat, the Washington Post surmises. Here are some of the leading possibilities.
  • Kirsten Gillibrand: the New York senator has impressive fundraising chops and a killer instinct—her
...

In Switch, Palin Flames Out as Hillary Soars

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's resignation speech on Sunday showed how far she's fallen, writes Maureen Dowd: "Once a blazingly confident media darling," the now-former Alaska governor has become a ranting, whiny "Nixon with hair extensions." It's a marked contrast from Hillary Clinton, who on the same...

Gender Gap in GOP Is Striking, Problematic
Gender Gap in GOP Is Striking, Problematic
ANALYSIS
May 11, 2009 12:15 PM CDT

Gender Gap in GOP Is Striking, Problematic

Women compose 10% of GOP House, Senate; Dems are 23% female

(Newser) - Women may make up the majority of America, but they comprise just 10% of the GOP House and Senate—compared to about 23% for Dems—and that gender gap "could make the Republicans’ climb back to power even steeper," writes Erika Lovely in Politico. It's not that the...

Play-by-Play Booth Still Boys-Only Club

(Newser) - Andrea Kremer’s done nearly everything in sports journalism: produced, directed, and won Emmys for her stories. But come game time, she—like most women sports journalists—are stuck on the sidelines, the Washington Post reports. The play-by-play booth is reserved almost exclusively for men, who will broadcast the Final...

Nearing 60, Streep Trumps Hollywood's Old Boys

The anti-diva, a character actress at heart, is happy to play strong women

(Newser) - Meryl Streep wasn't surprised when Mamma Mia! took the international box office by storm, and remained equally unfazed at the amazement of execs who hadn't expected the ABBA musical to succeed. The "fellas" who decide what films get made, Streep tells the Independent, "usually make those decisions...

In World First, Women Form Majority in Rwanda Assembly

Boosted by quota system, females take 44 of 80 of parliamentary seats

(Newser) - The second parliamentary election in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide has ushered in the only majority female parliament in the world, the BBC reports. Of 80 seats, 44 went to women—and that 55% could go higher after additional voting. Under the constitution drafted after the genocide, 30% of MPs...

Will Women Abandon Palin, Too?
 Will Women 
 Abandon 
 Palin, Too? 
ANALYSIS
Sep 14, 2008 5:58 PM CDT

Will Women Abandon Palin, Too?

What makes women shed their ideals to support Palin?

(Newser) - When Geraldine Ferraro joined Walter Mondale's ticket in 1984, Ronald Reagan got a boost from women voters who may have felt threatened by Ferraro's personal and professional success. Nearly 25 years later, the effect of Sarah Palin joining John McCain contrasts sharply with Ferraro's fortunes, and prompts Newsweek to take...

Palin's Female Fans Not Confined to Right

Some see evolving breed of feminism in those drawn to Republican VP nominee

(Newser) - The crowds turning out for Sarah Palin show that the vice-presidential candidate is pulling her main support from conservative women. But she has also gained some followers who, though they identify as independents or Democrats, are "fed up with a man's world," the Washington Post reports. While some...

Is Palin a Woman's Woman?
 Is Palin a Woman's Woman? 
Aug 31, 2008 8:30 AM CDT

Is Palin a Woman's Woman?

Women divided over conservative female veep pick's stand on women's issues

(Newser) - John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate is drawing a mixed reaction from the female swing voters his campaign is desperate to woo, reports the New York Times. Some conservative women who have been lukewarm about a McCain presidency are energized by the pick, whereas many...

Clinton's Sexism Charges 'Insulting'
 Clinton's
 Sexism
 Charges
 'Insulting' 
opinion
May 23, 2008 10:50 AM CDT

Clinton's Sexism Charges 'Insulting'

Past women icons wouldn't make such claims: Noonan

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton’s claims of misogyny this week were cheap shots that history’s greatest women never would have uttered, Peggy Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal . Suggesting that sexism is costing her the nomination is “insulting” and “manipulative”—it paints other candidates’ supporters as biased—...

Employers Ask Office Lovers to Sign Off

'Love contracts' guard bosses against harassment claims

(Newser) - Bosses who see love in the air are asking workers to sign so-called love contracts to guard against sexual harassment claims, ABC News reports. "It is documenting the relationship," one employment lawyer said. "You need to define the relationship. Is (it) welcome?" The issue has gained attention...

Ex-Gov. Helps Obama Sling Mississippi Mud

Mabus deplores divisiveness, Clinton's 'derogatory' statements

(Newser) - A Barack Obama radio ad airing in Mississippi ahead of Tuesday’s primary features the ex-governor arguing that Hillary Clinton looks down on the state, CNN reports. Entitled “Respect,” the ad refers to remarks Clinton made about a lack of elected female officials in Iowa, when she said,...

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