In a vastly majority male Legislature, Madison’s state representatives will be mostly women in the coming year.
Only 127 women have been elected to the state Legislature since the state’s first legislative session in 1848, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. Today, the Legislature is 75 percent male.
State Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, pointed out that number is “startling” compared to the thousands of male legislators in the state’s history.
“When you compare that to the thousands of men that have been elected in that same period of time, it’s startling,” Sargent said. “It’s startling that there’s 132 people in the state Legislature currently, and that if we were to bring all the women back from the beginning, there still would be empty seats.”
Twenty-five of the Legislature’s 99 representatives are women, while nine of the state’s 32 senators are women. One Senate seat is currently vacant after a male state senator retired this year.
That adds up to women making up about 25 percent of the state Legislature, putting the state in the middle of the pack nationwide, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures tally last November.
The city of Madison, however, has elected mostly women to the state Legislature this session. Next year, most of the city will have a female state representative in the Assembly, with only state Rep. Robb Kahl, D-Monona, representing a small part of the city.
Ald. Lisa Subeck, District 1, who won the August Democratic primary to replace state Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, will likely head to the state Legislature next session, since she faces no Republican opponent in November.
Subeck said the increased female representation helps bring a new perspective to women’s issues, such as health care.
“If women are more directly impacted by the kinds of decisions government makes about women’s healthcare, clearly having more women involved in that decision-making process is a good thing,” Subeck said.
Women in the Legislature also face the same hurdles to being elected which often creates a bond across party lines, Subeck said.
Sargent, for example, said when she first ran for the Dane County Board chair, a constituent told her she should stay at home to raise her kids instead.
Sargent said since women tend to be caretakers, whether for an older relative or young children, women on both sides of the aisle are better able to bond and relate to one another.
“You’re able to have more of a connection with one another woman to woman,” Sargent said. “Whether it’s because you have children, or because you have other similar interests with one another, or because you’ve faced similar adversity through becoming elected, or the way different people react to you as an elected representative. … it does create a sisterhood so to speak.”
Regardless of party views, Sargent said she hopes women’s involvement in all levels of government increases in the future.
Sargent said she feels satisfied knowing that women can raise a family and serve as elected officials.
“I felt that it was a hard decision to make to run for office because I felt like I wasn’t going to be as good of a mom,” Sargent said. “I felt that I would have to give some of that up,” Now that I am a state representative I know that I am a great mom, I know that I am providing for my kids and I’m also able to do this.”
