Thursday, September 18, 2014
Wins for Women in Sept. 9 Primary
This past Tuesday’s primary election was full of
exciting wins for women candidates and the women of Massachusetts. Martha
Coakley, Maura Healey, and Deb Goldberg were all successful in their respective
primary bids for Governor, Attorney General, and Treasurer.
This means that two-thirds of Democratic ticket for
statewide constitutional office are women. This is important because women are
staggeringly underrepresented in politics. According to the Massachusetts Caucus
of Women Legislators, women hold 18.5 percent of
Congressional seats and 23 percent of statewide positions across the country.
Martha Coakley, the current state Attorney General
garnered 42 percent of the vote outpacing both current State Treasurer Steve
Grossman’s 36 percent and Don Berwick’s 21 percent.
Senator Elizabeth Warren told the Boston Herald
“….She has all the right basics and we know who Martha Coakley is — she was an
outstanding attorney general who fought on behalf of the people of
Massachusetts. She was out there day in and day out making it happen and now
she is going to make it happen as a candidate for governor.”
Former Assistant Attorney General and political
newcomer Maura Healey bested Warren Tolman with 62 percent of the vote compared
to Tolman’s 38 percent.
Emily’s List President Stephanie Shriock commented
on the importance of a win for Healey in November in her organization’s
endorsement of Healey.“Maura Healey is a
champion of equality with a proven record fighting for civil rights of
Massachusetts families….” Schriock said.
Former Brookline Town Selectwoman Deb Goldberg won
43 percent of the vote compared to Andover State Senator Barry Finegold’s 32
percent and Wayland State Representative Tom Conroy’s 26 percent.
Donna Denoncourt & Nancy Rosenblum, Mass
National Organization for Women PAC Co-Chairs, endorsed Goldberg saying “Mass.
NOW is proud to endorse Deb Goldberg for State Treasurer. As an Overseer of
Planned Parenthood and a Selectman in the Town of Brookline, she has been
engaged in the challenges and issues facing women’s right to privacy, wage
equality and choice….”
The mission of the Massachusetts Women’s Political
Caucus is to help recruit, train and elect more qualified, pro-choice women to
public office. It was a truly rewarding experience for the staff and volunteers
of the MWPC to have supported the winning candidates as well as our other
endorsed candidates that were not successful in the primary election, but
showed a tremendous amount of bravery by running for public office. It was a
very exciting primary night, but there is still more work to be done to ensure
that the general election in November is a historic one for women!
