Today an op-ed piece written by TNA Co-Founder Cynthia Ruccia was featured in The Columbus Dispatch. Go Cynthia Go!!!

Time for Ohio to have a woman senator

Ohioans have a rare opportunity to elect the state’s first-ever woman to serve in the United States Senate. Now that Sen. George V. Voinovich is retiring, the jockeying in both parties has begun.

Two women with track records of statewide support and a history of good service to Ohio should be serious contenders to run for Senate in 2010. Republican state Auditor Mary Taylor has performed ably in her position, a job that is even more important during our current economic difficulties. She was also the only Republican to win in the Democratic tsunami of 2006. Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner can claim the exact same assets: highly competent, qualified, and a record of winning statewide.

Why should it matter to anyone if we have a woman representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate?

First, consider these statistics. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United States ranks 69th in the world (out of 189 countries) in female representation in government. Of note are some of the countries ahead of us. Spain, the country that brought us the concept of machismo, ranks 10th, and Afghanistan and Iraq (28th and 35th, respectively), are far ahead of us. We are the champions of promoting freedom and equality, and we can’t even muster a ranking higher than 69th?

A second set of statistics hits closer to home. The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University ranks Ohio 34th out of 50 states for female representation in government. Although women represent more than 50 percent of the population in Ohio, they hold only 20.5 percent of the political offices. Colorado ranks first with 39 percent representation and South Carolina is last with 10 percent.

Julie Graber of the Institute on Women, Gender, and Public Policy at Ohio State University says that the high point for women in Ohio in terms of representation was after the 1992 elections and the Anita Hill hearings, when women were fired up about the appalling lack of women on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony about Hill’s allegations that she had been harassed by then-pending Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. That “Year of the Woman” marshaled women into 25 percent of the elected positions in the Buckeye State by 1994. Women lost a serious amount of ground after that, bottoming out at 16 percent in 2007 and only now starting to climb back at 20.5 percent.

Jill Miller Zimon, a noted political blogger and commentator from Cleveland, makes one of the strongest cases for more elected women: “No clearer evidence exists that having women in our state and federal legislatures matters than the passage . . . of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. In the U.S. Senate there are only 17 women — 13 Democrats and four Republicans. It was the support by the four Republican female senators (and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.,) that made the bill filibuster-proof and led to its passage by a 61-36 vote. The presence of these women in Congress also shapes and rounds out the discussion and debate of all issues, lending a much-needed perspective that more fully reflects the American population, its needs, and its desires.”

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., notes in her book, Rumors Of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, that since women make up only 16 percent of the House members, an extraordinary amount of time is wasted convincing male legislators of the merits of issues such as domestic violence, pay equity, sexual harassment and even children’s health care. Maloney posits that if women achieve 30 percent representation, their time will be more effectively spent legislating on these issues instead of raising awareness and enlightenment.

As Ohio’s economy continues to suffer, there is also a powerful economic case to be made for tapping the talent of 52 percent of our population. States that do not fully capitalize on more than half their human resources run the risk of undermining their competitive potential. A World Economic Forum report found a strong correlation between the economic performance of countries and the proportion of women in leadership positions. There is an economic incentive behind empowering women that Ohio just can’t afford to ignore.

We tell our daughters that they can be anything and do anything, and that anything is possible in the United States. Isn’t it time to show them as Ohioans that we can elect a woman to the U.S. Senate?

We must do better. Why rank 34th out of 50 when we have it in us to be first? Maybe the state with the nickname “Mother of Presidents” for delivering eight men to the White House can be the home state of the first woman president.

Cynthia Ruccia of Bexley is co-founder of The New Agenda, a national nonpartisan women’s-rights group.

Check this website for statistics on your state.   Are you surprised by your state’s record regarding women?