Happy New Year! In 2019 we will see some exciting women participating in the U.S. Congress for the first time—and I will be writing about them. Let’s start the year though with some exciting news out of the Western United States.
Nevada is the first state in the United States to have more women in its legislature than men. Women hold 51% of the 63 seats in the Nevada legislature. This percentage is comparable to the population of the United States, as women are 51% of the total nationally.
In mid-December, the Clark County Board of Commissioners selected Beatrice Duran and Rochelle Thuy Nguyen to fill two vacant seats in the legislature. Duran is a staff member of the Culinary Workers Union Local in Nevada and Nguyen is a criminal defense attorney. They will hold these seats until 2020.
As in the United States Congress, women’s numbers in the senate are lower than in the assembly. In Nevada women hold 42% of the seats in the state Senate, but 55% of the seats in the Assembly. In 2009, New Hampshire had a majority of women in their Senate, but women still comprised only 37% of the total legislature. Nevada has indeed chipped the glass ceiling.
This is a cause to celebrate, but it also occurs to me that it is nice for once to be looking at gender parity rather than party divisions? It sounds like progress, in more ways than one.
