Helen Sommers: An Oral History

pg. 256 Women Advances in Government
decades to expand educational and athletic opportunities
in the schools and colleges. “We have
taught girls to really shoot for the stars,” she says.
Senator Murray gives credit to women’s studies
programs and good networking among women.
Washington was the first state to add an Equal
Rights Amendment to its constitution and embraced
a variety of outreach programs for women, notes
Secretary of State Ralph Munro.
Unions and many Washington businesses have
developed a tradition of advancing women, as have
both political parties, he says. From 1980 until 1992,
both major parties were headed by women, who
recruited female candidates and served as mentors.
Then-GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Dunn now is in
Congress and is working on the party’s gender gap.
Democrat Karen Marchioro has mentored at least
two generations of candidates.
But there is no substitute for hard work and
moving through the political chairs from town
council and the school board on up, says Lisk.
“We made extraordinary gains by some rather
orthodox means,” agrees Allen, who has conducted
campaign schools for women as far away
as Barcelona.
“In Washington, it’s not a novelty,” Allen says.
“We became accustomed very early on to voting
for the gutsy, entrepreneurial women who were role
models in government, business and the community.”
David Ammons has covered the Washington
Legislature since 1971.
©1999, National Conference of State Legislatures.
All rights reserved.
Olympian Women – They Are
Changing Both Style And Substance
In Legislature
By Dionne Searcey
Seattle Times Olympia Bureau
Sunday, January 31, 1999
OLYMPIA - In the 1970s women who strolled
through the testosterone-soaked Capitol Rotunda
were candidates for the Leg of the Day award.
Male legislators, who dominated the House and
Senate back then, chose the winner from among
women sitting in the gallery.
Today, women in Olympia are a bigger presence
- and a stronger force - than ever before. They’re the
ones who dole out the awards. But instead of being
rewarded for sexy legs, it’s fiery rhetoric that might
earn a woman membership in the tongue-in-cheek
club called the Mean Old Bitches.
As the good-old-boys club in the Capitol has
faded through the years, it has been replaced
by groups such as M.O.B., and before that the
Women’s Sewing Club and Terrorist Committee
and the Higher Education Rabble-Rousers Society
(HERRS). These loosely knit groups formed by
women provide support, solidarity and a sense
of sisterhood.
This year a record 60 women are serving in
the House and Senate. They make up more than
40 percent of the Legislature, a higher percentage
than in any other state.
Among the Democrats who control the Senate,
women outnumber men 2-1. Male caucus members
have formed a Last Man’s Club, with a bottle of
wine awaiting the last survivor.
“The women are outnumbering us,” said Sen.
Michael Heavey, D- Seattle. “You never know.”