Facts and Figures
Women in the Massachusetts Legislature 1969- 1985
| |
1969
|
1971
|
1973
|
1975
|
1977
|
1979*
|
1981
|
1983
|
1985
|
|
HOUSE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men
|
236
|
236
|
232
|
229
|
223
|
149
|
146
|
140
|
131
|
|
Women
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
11
|
17
|
11
|
14
|
20
|
29
|
|
% women
|
1.6
|
1.6
|
3.3
|
4.5
|
7
|
6.8
|
8.7
|
12.5
|
18.1
|
|
SENATE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men
|
39
|
39
|
38
|
38
|
37
|
36
|
35
|
34
|
35
|
|
Women
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
|
% women
|
2.5
|
2.5
|
5
|
5
|
7.5
|
10
|
12.5
|
15
|
12.5
|
|
TOTAL LEGISLATURE
|
280
|
280
|
280
|
280
|
280
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
*Number of house members decreased from 240 to 160
Women in the Massachusetts Legislature 1987- 2003
| |
1987
|
1989
|
1991
|
1993
|
1995
|
1997
|
1999
|
2001
|
2003
|
|
HOUSE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men
|
129
|
130
|
123
|
119
|
120
|
120
|
117
|
118
|
119
|
|
Women
|
31
|
30
|
34
|
38
|
40
|
39
|
41
|
39
|
40
|
|
% women
|
19.3
|
18.7
|
21.2
|
23.7
|
25
|
24.3
|
25.6
|
24.3
|
25
|
|
SENATE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men
|
34
|
34
|
32
|
31
|
30
|
33
|
29
|
28
|
28
|
|
Women
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
9
|
8
|
7
|
11
|
12
|
12
|
|
% women
|
15
|
15
|
17.9
|
22.5
|
21
|
17.5
|
27.5
|
30
|
30
|
|
TOTAL LEGISLATURE
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
200
|
Women in the Massachusetts Legislature 2005-2011
| |
2005 |
2007 |
2011 |
| SENATE |
|
|
|
| Men |
30 |
28 |
29 |
| Women |
10 |
12 |
11 |
| % Women |
25 |
30 |
27.5 |
| HOUSE |
|
|
|
| Men |
120 |
123 |
122 |
| Women |
40 |
37 |
38 |
| % Women |
15 |
23.1 |
23.7 |
| Total Legislature |
200 |
200 |
200 |
The Political Progress of Women
| 1920 |
19th Constitutional Amendment gives women the right to vote |
| 1980 |
National identification of the “Gender Gap” - women voted differently than men |
| 1992 |
Media declares the “Year of the Woman” - women ran for office in record numbers |
| 1994 |
54 million less women make an effort to vote |
| 2004+ |
Where will we be?
|
Currently in Massachusetts
- No women are serving or have served in the US Senate
- There is currently only one woman serving in the US House of Representatives and only 4 women have ever served in The House. Congresswoman Niki Tsongas is the first woman to serve in Massachusetts' Congressional delegation since 1983.
- 24.5% of the state legislators are women.
The statistical overview of women’s political progress over the past 40 years
| |
1971
|
1991
|
1993
|
1995
|
1997
|
1999
|
2003
|
2005 |
2007 |
2011 |
|
US Senate
(100 Seats)
|
2
2%
|
2
2%
|
6
6%
|
8
8%
|
9
9%
|
9
9%
|
14
14%
|
14
14% |
16
16% |
17
17% |
|
US House
(435 Seats)
|
13
3%
|
28
6.4%
|
47
10.8%
|
47
10.8%
|
51
11.7%
|
56
12.9%
|
59
13.6%
|
71
16.3% |
75
17.2% |
75
17.2% |
|
Elected Executive Statewide
(approx. 200 - 300 seats)
|
16
8%
|
33
16.5%
|
72
24%
|
84
28%
|
81
25.1%
|
89
27.69%
|
80
25.3%
|
|
|
|
|
State Legislature
(7,400 - 7,600 seats)
% of women
|
362
4.8%
|
1,368
18.3%
|
1,524
20.5%
|
1,536
20.7%
|
1,593
21.5%
|
1,652
22.3%
|
1,648
22.3%
|
|
|
|
|
Mass. Legislature
(200 seats)
|
(?)
|
38
19%
|
45
22.5%
|
48
24%
|
47
23.5%
|
52
26%
|
52
26%
|
50
25% |
49
24.5% |
49
24.5% |
Women mayors in Massachusetts: 46 communities with mayoral system of government
Donna Holaday, Newburyport
Jeanette McCarthy, Waltham
Linda Balzotti, Brockton
Lisa Wong, Fitchburg
Carolyn Kirk, Gloucester
Judith Flanagan Kennedy, Lynn
Nancy Stevens, Marlborough
Kimberly Driscoll, Salem
Sue Kay, Weymouth
History of Women in MA Government
On February 18, 1926, Sylvia Donaldson was made Speaker of the MA House for one day and is the only woman to hold this position to date.
Massachusetts has only ever elected three women Lieutenant Governors:
- Evelyn Murphy (Democrat) 1987-1990
- Jane Swift (Republican) 1999-2001
- Kerry Healey (Republican) 2003-2006
Massachusetts has only ever elected four women to the US House of Representatives:
- Edith Nourse Rogers (Republican) 1925-1960
- Louise Day Hicks (Democrat) 1971-1973
- Margaret Heckler (Republican) 1967-1983
- Niki Tsongas (Democrat) 2007-Present
When Shannon O'Brien was elected State Treasurer in 1999, she became the first woman in Masachusetts to hold a constitutional office, other than Lieutenant Governor.
Massachusetts has never elected a woman Governor.
