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Highlights from the book:
Incumbency is not gender neutral.
Female incumbents have to work harder to hang on to their seats. A female incumbent is more likely to be challenged in her own primary, and there is typically a “free-for-all” in the opposition primary.
Demographics are destiny. There are “women-friendly” districts.
Almost half of the women in Congress today come from 3 states, New York, California, and Florida. Female congressional candidates from both parties are more likely to win in districts that are more urban, educated, wealthier, racially and ethnically diverse, and that have fewer school-age children. Female candidates do not do well in large, rural, low income, blue collar districts, particularly in the South.
Have states “gendermandered?”
In this era of polarized politics, redistricting and gerrymandering have the unintended consequence of shaping opportunities for female candidates.
Dennis Simon is Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Political Science Department at Southern Methodist University. He was a founding member of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and currently serves as the Director of Programs in American Politics. Professor Simon has designed a number of innovative courses including The Politics of Change in the United States; The Life, Times and Legend of President John F. Kennedy; and The Politics and Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement, serving as the faculty leader of SMU’s Civil Rights Pilgrimage. He can be reached at dsimon@mail.smu.edu.
Palmer and Simon have done extensive interviews about their research and have been quoted in a wide vareity of media including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dallas Morning News, CNN, ABC News Tonight, the Voice of America, Cleveland Public Radio, and Campaigs and Elections Magazine.
Barbara Palmer is Professor of Political Science and is the creator and Executive Director of the Center for Women and Politics of Ohio at Baldwin Wallace University. She also serves on the Board of Running Start, a non-profit that trains young women to run for public office. Professor Palmer is also the Director of the BW Legal Studies Program and teaches a wide variety of courses in American politics, including Women, Politics, and the Media; Congress, the Presidency, and Elections; Civil Rights & Liberties; and Constitutional Law. She can be reached at bpalmer@bw.edu.