22 Jun Closing the Gender Gap: What Happens When More Women Run for Office
Closing the Gender Gap: What Happens When More Women Run for Office
Here is a fact that surprises a lot of people: when women run for office, they win at comparable rates to men. According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University, women who run for state legislative seats win at rates that closely mirror men’s — and Democratic women challengers in particular have outperformed men in recent cycles.
So why do women hold roughly one-third of state legislative seats and just over 28% of Congressional seats nationwide?
Not because voters won’t elect them. Because not enough women are running.
That is the gap we are trying to close — not at the voting booth, but at the starting line. And closing it, one candidate at a time, matters more than most people realize.
If you have been wondering whether you are even qualified to run, we wrote about that too: You Are Already Qualified.
What We Lose When Women Aren’t in the Room
Gay Lynn Bennion, a member of the Utah House of Representatives, describes what she experiences firsthand:
“There is a lot of research that shows that women don’t speak up enough until there are equal numbers of them in a room. In many of the committees where I serve, I am the only woman, or maybe there’s two of us. We will be stronger voices when there are more of us.”
The representation gap is not just a fairness issue, though it is certainly that. It is a practical problem with real consequences for communities.
When the people making decisions don’t reflect the full range of people they represent, things get missed. Perspectives go unheard. Priorities get skewed. Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson of Utah put it plainly: “It’s like walking around with one eye open. If you’ve just got the men’s perspective on things… you just don’t see the whole picture.”
Former Orem City Council Member Debby Lauret put it plainly during her time in office: “I represent in Orem 51 percent of my population, which is women. And there are two out of seven of us. I’d really like one more woman because we have a unique perspective and we want to represent those we govern.”
Two out of seven. That means 51 percent of the population has fewer than 30 percent of the seats. That is not because women don’t have anything to contribute. It is because not enough of them have been asked, encouraged, trained, and supported to run.
The Candidacy Problem — and the Confidence Gap
One of the most well-documented patterns in political research is the confidence gap between men and women who are equally qualified for office. Studies have found that women tend to underestimate their qualifications and overestimate what it takes. Men, by contrast, often overestimate their readiness and underestimate the difficulty.
This plays out in who runs and who doesn’t. Women are more likely to cite a lack of qualifications as a reason not to seek office — even when their actual qualifications match or exceed those of the men currently holding similar seats.
Deidre Henderson has a disarming response to this: “I was not qualified to be my own intern, but I was perfectly qualified to be a senator.”
She did not wait until she had some perfect credential set. She ran. She won. And Utah is better for it.
What Research Tells Us About Women in Office
The case for more women in elected office is not just intuitive — it is well documented.
Research consistently finds that women legislators sponsor more legislation focused on education, health care, and family welfare. Studies show that female elected officials deliver more federal funding to their districts and advance more bills through committee. Diverse governing bodies make better decisions — not because any one group is smarter, but because more perspectives catch more problems and generate more creative solutions.
Katie Olson, who ran for the Utah State House, said it directly: “We need more women. We need more moms. We need more people that are out there balancing their own household budget.”
That is not a soft argument. That is a practical one. The people who navigate the real-world complexity of family, community, and limited resources every day are exactly the people who should be helping shape policy.
Potholes Don’t Have a Party
One thing worth naming — especially in a political climate that can feel relentlessly divisive — is that local and state offices are far less partisan in practice than national politics might lead you to believe.
Candace Andersen, Contra Costa County Supervisor, offers a grounding reminder: “A pothole isn’t a Democrat or a Republican pothole. It’s just a pothole that needs to be filled.”
Most of the work that happens in city halls, county offices, and school board chambers is not about ideology. It is about competence, judgment, and caring about your neighbors. Women who feel turned off by the national political climate often find that local and state service is a completely different animal — more collaborative, more practical, and more directly tied to visible results.
Showing Up Is Most of the Battle
For women who are thinking about it but haven’t taken the step, here is some candid perspective from women who have been there. And if you are looking for the most practical first move, read our post on Why Local Offices Are the Perfect Starting Point.
Gretchen Rydin, Colorado State Representative and former Littleton City Council member, has a simple formula: “90 percent is just showing up.”
That is it. Showing up to the meeting. Making the call. Filing the paperwork. Most of the barrier is the internal resistance, not the external obstacle. And once you start showing up, you realize the work is manageable, the community is welcoming, and the impact is real.
Shaunte Ruiz-Zunel, who ran for Orem City Council, puts it directly: “If we don’t put ourselves out there, we won’t get elected.”
There is no workaround for that. No amount of wishing or strategizing changes the math if you never get on the ballot. The only path to closing the gap is women deciding, one by one, that their community is worth the effort — and putting their name forward.
One Person. One Decision. One Ripple.
The gap feels large when you look at it statistically. Nationwide numbers, institutional barriers, decades of underrepresentation — it can feel too big for one person to move.
But that is not how change actually happens. Attorney and author Merrilee Boyack captures it well: “Once you realize that one person can make a difference and that one person can be you — there’s no stopping.”
Every woman currently serving on a city council, a school board, a county commission, or in a state legislature was once someone who hadn’t run yet. She made a decision — to try, to show up, to put her name forward — and now she is in that room. Making decisions. Representing her neighbors. Closing the gap one seat at a time.
The Gap Closes When You Run
The gender gap in political representation is not inevitable. It is not a law of nature. It is a condition created by decades of uneven encouragement, uneven support, and uneven access — all of which can be changed.
When more women run, more women win. When more women win, more women are visible as role models. When more girls see women in office, more of them decide they belong there too. It is a cycle — but someone has to start it.
That someone could be you.
If you are ready to take your next step, Project Elect is here to help. Learn more and connect with our community at projectelectwomen.org, or fill out our Ambassador form to get started today.
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