“Women. Leaders. Legislators.” www.northeastaction.org

• Women are only 14.8 percent of Congress and 22.5 percent of state legislators.
• Women candidates are typically underfunded compared to men.
• Issues like domestic violence, women’s healthcare, and problems of female-headed poor families are not addressed by most politicians today.

“A woman’s place is in the House and the Senate.”

Clean Elections:  women not connected to big money can run and win. Over 300 publicly funded campaigns have been run by women using Clean Elections since 2000.

According to the Center for American Women and Politics, women hold only 25 percent of statewide elected offices, 22.5 percent of state legislative offices and 14.8 percent of seats in Congress.

Considering women make up over half the U.S. population, these numbers are painfully low.

One factor in increasing the number of women in elected office is to publicly finance electoral campaigns through systems known as Clean Elections or Clean Money.

The prevailing system that allows unlimited campaign contributions and expenditures is inaccessible and unaffordable for many women, who on average earn 76 percent of what men earn and have fewer connections to donor networks.

Clean Elections plays to women’s strengths.

• More women are using Clean Elections.
• Women using public funding are financially competitive
• In a growing number of places, women who can’t fund their own campaigns or don’t have access to wealthy donor networks now have the choice to run for office using Clean Elections.
• Clean Elections is a comprehensive approach to campaign finance reform that reduces the influence of big money on elections and enables people of modest means to run for office.
• Clean Elections has strong support among women. Women running for office consistently use it at a higher rate than men.
• Clean Elections can play a role in increasing the number of women elected, and makes it affordable for more women to run for office.
• Many women candidates say that the existence of Clean Elections funding was a very important factor in their decision to run.
• Over 300 campaigns have been run by women using Clean Elections since 2000.
• Clean Elections transforms women’s electoral campaigns. It reduces the time they spend chasing wealthy donors and it encourages them to spend more time talking with ordinary voters.