Our team lifts the voices of women serving and seeking office by bringing exclusive interviews, articles, and events
from Capitol Hill to Democrats Abroad.

Team Leader: Carol Moore
Contact: [email protected]

Welcome to the Candidate Information Action Team of the Democrats Abroad Global Women’s Caucus!

In the run up to the 2020 Election, the Candidate Information Action Team aimed to raise awareness with DA members of the fantastic women running for Congress. Our ‘Women to Win’ series shared the stories of women in particularly difficult districts where Trump had won in 2016. Team researchers interviewed a number of Representatives who had won Republican seats in 2018 as well as Democratic candidates running to flip other Red districts Blue. Their work on these candidate profiles was published here on our blog and across social media. We also hosted and co-hosted virtual “Town Halls” for thousands of DA members to listen in and directly ask important questions to candidates in their voting district.

An emergent theme within the Global Women’s Caucus is that of the economic wellbeing of women. As COVID-19 highlights gender-based inequalities, it becomes clear that representation for the interests of women in government is crucial to advance and secure the economic wellbeing of women through responsive legislation. 

UN Women reported in 2020 on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women the world over. From increasing burdens of unpaid care and domestic work to increased risk of transmission and fatality rates for poor or otherwise marginalized women, the pandemic is taking its toll on the world’s women. The report also estimates that “COVID-19 will contribute to the worsening of gender-poverty gaps” through growth of extreme global poverty and women disproportionately losing their jobs. A further report from McKinsey asserts that “women are more vulnerable to COVID-19 related economic effects because of existing gender inequalities.

Democratically elected officials have many duties including to protect citizens from the brunt of public health emergencies and economic crises via legislation to benefit citizens. As these assessments and others all point to a threat to the economic wellbeing of women, it is key to ask if those elected to office are acting in the interest of women and of our economic wellbeing. 

It is important to note that with the best interest of women in mind, we are not advocating for elected officials to neglect the needs of men. Rather we are insisting that supporting women specifically and women’s economic wellbeing is a component of any equitable approach to supporting the larger societal economic wellbeing. 

Women are experiencing the effects of the pandemic differently, economically and otherwise. As the research shows, women are at a particular disadvantage and so it is important to ensure that our elected representatives take that research into consideration in order to formulate equitable policy, accordingly.

As women are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic and we urge representatives to consider this in crafting equitable policy to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIAT reminds the caucus of the importance of electing women to public office. 

Of course not every woman has the same opinion on what is in the best interest of women, which is why the CIAT focuses our efforts on electing Democratic women who fight for issues like equal pay for equal work, reproductive freedoms, family leave and child care, and standing against sexual violence. 

In our future work, we will be especially interested in talking with women in Congress and women running for office about their goals to advance and secure the economic wellbeing of women to participate in larger discussions with the Caucus about the economic wellbeing of women.

The 117th United States Congress will see a record number of women serving in the chambers of the Capitol. With 122 women in the House (92-D, 30-R) and 25 women in the Senate (17-D, 8-R), this Congress advances the slow and steady progress towards gender equality in democratically elected positions across the nation.

In just over 100 years, women have run increasingly successful campaigns to bring the number of women in the House and Senate from zero to around one quarter of its members. Among the slow and steady progress, Democratic women have made particularly great strides. Since the 101st Congress in 1991, women have increased from 5.6% of the party members in office to now 40.5% of the party elected to the House and Senate. 

In the United States, we rely on the evolution of societal norms and bottom-up deconstruction of institutional barriers that impede the success of women in democratic elections. This is a useful analytic to recognize our agency in this evolution: Society only evolves at the hands of some internal or external pressures and the greater the pressure, the greater the change. 

So this year, while our team is celebrating this record number of women serving in the 117th Congress, we think the current rate of change is too slow.

As such, this team is undergoing its own evolution. In the last year, The Candidate Information Action Team aimed to raise awareness with DA members of the fantastic women running for Congress–particularly in difficult districts where Trump had won in 2016. Team researchers interviewed a number of Representatives who had won Republican seats in 2018 as well as Democratic candidates running to flip other Red districts Blue. Their work on these candidate profiles was published on the GWC website and several panels were held with thousands of DA members listening in. We also advised DA members how they could attend virtual “Town Halls” to directly ask important questions to candidates in their voting districts.

In 2021, we plan to have a recurring ‘Capitol Women’ series to hear what is happening in Congress and talk to Representatives about the issues that DA voters care most about. We also plan to continue working with women running for office, namely for legislative seats in Virginia and New Jersey this November and in upcoming special elections. We are eager to speak with them on issues of critical importance including voter suppression, reproductive justice, climate change, and racial justice. 

With this work, it is our aim to continue to engage DA voters in supporting women currently serving and seeking to serve in publicly elected positions across the nation. As we relish in the recent victories of women–and Democrats of all genders–and stand strong against those who aim to threaten our democracy, we must remember that the work of fighting for women is never done.

Let’s get to work.

Reality is finally setting in that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be in the White House on January 20, 2021. The weight of the global pandemic, a deteriorating economy, and a deeply divided nation will be placed on their shoulders. President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris are already proving they understand the magnitude of this responsibility; “This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts, and recommit ourselves to the fight” against the coronavirus, Biden said. “Let’s remember, we’re all in this together.” Watching from abroad as Harris and Biden begin to staff up and mask up, it’s comforting to see America being led with competence, compassion and intellect.

As 2020 comes to an end and election results across the nation become certified, the Candidate Information Team has exciting victories to announce, a wealth of gratitude to share, and a message for the future of the Caucus.

The Global Women’s Caucus and Democrats around the world can celebrate the wins of not only President-Elect Joe Biden and our first female Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, but also of our Women To Win: Newly elected Representatives Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07) and Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Re-elected incumbent Representatives Lucy McBath (GA-06), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Senator from NH), and newly elected Arizona State House Representative Judy Schwiebert (AZ State House-20). An especially celebratory congratulations to Representative-Elect Carolyn Bourdeaux and State Representative-Elect Judy Schwiebert for flipping their respective red districts blue!

“My opponent says she is tired of compromise and I totally disagree with that. I am exactly the opposite... I want to bring people together and reach out to groups so that we can get something done. I want to get rid of the gridlock. It’s time to unite.”

-Diane Mitsch Bush

The Vice Presidential Debate came in the midst of a two-week news cycle that contained two years’ worth of news.  President Trump had coronavirus, potentially contracted at Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination event, after downplaying the virus for months and leaving 210,000 Americans to die and denying a new round of economic stimulus. With these events swirling, Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence took the stage with a plexiglass barrier between them--a visual reminder that COVID-19 spreads across party, state, and economic lines. 

"VP Debate Takeaways", USA Today, Oct 7 2020 

This month the Candidate Information Team is proud to share the 2020 Women To Win Guide! Over the last six months the Candidate Information Team has interviewed 24 Democratic women running to flip Republican Congressional seats Blue or to keep their seat in a district they won in 2018. In this special guide, we are excited to remind the DA Global Women’s Caucus of each of the wonderful candidates the Candidate Information Team has worked with this election season. Read the full article to see your favorite ‘Women To Win’ once more so you can be sure to support and follow their campaigns by following links to the candidates’ WTW Profile and Candidate Forum, Candidate Site, Facebook, and Twitter. These women need our support and your vote could make the difference!

Over the last six months the Candidate Information Team has interviewed 24 Democratic women running to flip Republican Congressional seats Blue or to keep their seat in a district they won in 2018. Read on to learn more about these impressive Women To Win, their exceptional qualifications, and their path to represent their districts in Congress.

Dr. Hiral Tipireni (AZ-06)

“I am willing to work with anyone who will come to the table, roll up their sleeves, and get the job done. It’s about finding common ground. This campaign has been focused on the real issues on communities and not ideological battles. And that’s what Americans are looking for, real solutions.”

- Dr. Hiral Tipireni

Women To Win Profile

Women To Win September 22 Candidate Forum

Candidate Site: hiralforcongress.com

Facebook: Hiral for Congress

Twitter: @HiralForCongress

The  last four years have seemed to tarnish the American dream, replacing hope with fear, repudiating our history of growing stronger and better through diversity. Kamala Harris’s life is a reminder that American dreams live, born of hope, focus and hard work.

Kamala is the biracial daughter of two migrants—a father who came to the San Francisco Bay Area from Jamaica to study economics, and a mother who arrived there from India, age 19, to follow her dream of curing cancer.  As their daughter has noted, “they fell in love in that most American way—while marching together for justice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.”