Women’s History Month is an ideal moment to examine both the ascent and shortage of women in Utah politics. From the suffrage movement and election of the nation’s first woman state senator in the state’s early days to the election of a record number of women in the state Legislature in 2020, Utah women have made great strides in the politics of our state and nation.
But as we celebrate historic gains for women in politics across the country, we must simultaneously strive for far greater equality of representation not only for women but by women in the political sphere. And in no place is the lack of women leaders more pronounced than in Utah’s congressional representation.
As the nation is experiencing record proportions of women in Congress (26.5%), state elective executive offices (30.3%) and statewide legislatures (30.9%), Utah women make up only 23.1% of the state Legislature in 2021, placing our state at 40th in the nation. This year we celebrated the inauguration of Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson, the second Utah woman ever elected to that office, yet Utah has never elected a woman as governor. In 125 years of statehood, we have elected only four women to Congress. Currently, zero percent of our congressional delegation is women.
At a time when Utah has been consistently ranked the worst state in the nation for women’s equality, we can and must do better – not only for Utah women, but for the benefit of our entire state.
According to research by the Utah Women & Leadership Project, gender diversity in politics benefits the entire community. Women tend to have different leadership styles and perspectives than men, such as thinking more holistically and seeking win-win solutions, making more ethical decisions and having more honesty and integrity, and outcomes of women’s leadership include greater financial performance, strengthened organizational culture, a focus on inclusiveness and team cooperation and increased creativity and innovation.
Former UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés stated in a 2019 address that underrepresentation of women in political life contributes to exacerbating inequality. On the other hand, women play a key role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has found that women more than men tend to be highly responsive to constituent concerns, work across party lines, encourage citizen confidence in democracy through their own participation, and prioritize family concerns, such as health and education.
Polls show that Utah women are overwhelmingly ready to see more women in government leadership positions. Fortunately, three women candidates are rumored to be running for U.S. Senate in 2022, challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Lee. Potential candidates Becky Edwards, Ally Isom and Erin Rider would be setting a new precedent for the number of Utah women running for statewide office. Any could bring the benefits of women’s leadership to Utah’s congressional representation. For example, when I worked at the Utah Legislature with former Rep. Becky Edwards, she proved herself to be exactly the type of strong leader Utah needs: a good listener, caring and compassionate and effective at passing policies that benefited her constituents.
It is high time for Utah to elect more women to office. But it is up to all of us to boost women’s representation in government by supporting qualified and outstanding women candidates like these, encouraging more women to run for office and voting for them when they get on the ballot. Let’s work together to get more Utah women elected in 2022.
Andrea Himoff
Andrea Himoff is the co-founder and former executive director of Action Utah, a nonpartisan community advocacy organization empowering Utahns from both sides of the aisle to get civically engaged.