Trump and Me Too help women reach ‘historic’ heights in Pennsylvania primary races
In a state with no women in its congressional delegation, eight women -- seven
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At least one woman is all but guaranteed victory in November, and several more Democratic primary winners are in suburban
"It's absolutely historic,"
No single event or issue explains female candidates' success, observers said.
To start, of course, was the unusually high number of women who jumped into congressional races across the state -- 20.
Observers said the women who won contested races also were formidable candidates. Winning Democratic candidates include
Republican political consultant
"The election is going to be decided by the ideology of the candidate, not their gender," Brabender said, acknowledging that women tend to vote more for
But outside conditions also were prime for women to make inroads. As much as anything, the redrawing of
The court ultimately redrew the districts, after ruling that the Republican map of 2011 violated the state constitution by unfairly tilting the playing field to the
That, Dittmar said, may be why women's success in
The redrawn map is also the reason why Dean was on the congressional ballot at all.
The
"It was just remarkable," she said of the court's map. "
What she found as she crisscrossed the county was "an eagerness for civic engagement," she said. Some of it showed publicly in the Women's March events, while other "invisible groups" met in living rooms to plan their own local activism, she said.
Dean, who testified last month in a hearing on changing
The energy coming from the Women's March and the awareness raised by the Me Too movement "had to have had a big effect," Wild said.
"The message I was consistently getting," she said, "was we're tired of not having equal representation in
Enthusiasm was high among left-leaning voters, who gravitated to candidates such as Dean and Wild, as did liberal campaign funders such as Emily's List. The organization, which supports pro-abortion rights women, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into 13 state and federal female candidates and won nine races, said
While Emily's List, other like-minded organizations and their supporters all believe in the strength of their candidates, they could not ignore the elephant in the room: Trump.
"The president is extremely polarizing to
Even among
"It's clear the ideology differences and the Trump factor are at the core" of women's success in the primary, he said.
Borick thinks that's primed to change.
"I wouldn't bet against them," he said.
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