This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Half of Utahns (49.7 percent) are women, according to the latest Census, yet Utah has no women in Congress, none in statewide elected office and just 18 in the state Legislature, down from 23 just two years ago.
The 13 women state representatives and five senators constitute only about one in five of the 104 members, or 17 percent.
A new coalition calling itself Real Women Run wants to change that.
It is kicking off a campaign to encourage more women to become active in politics and run for political office beginning with a free social Thursday at 5 p.m. aimed at allowing participants to meet, converse and hear from politically experienced Republicans and Democrats.
The event at the YWCA, 322 E. 300 South in Salt Lake City, is free and will offer refreshments. Participants will be also able to get information about a more formal public leadership training session Jan. 14 at the Miller Campus of Salt Lake Community College, featuring speakers and workshops by current and former female officeholders, media experts, campaign managers and others.
Expected to attend Thursday's social are state Reps. Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Jennifer Seelig, former state lawmakers Jackie Biskupski, Sheryl Allen, Lorie Fowlke, Julie Fisher and former Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini, said Lindsay Zizumbo, program manager for University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.
"This allows women to network with other women who have been elected or involved in politics," she said, adding it is very informal. "We didn't want it to be intimidating."
The effort is being sponsored by the YWCA and the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and is backed by the Utah League of Women Voters.
Utah's politics could use some shaking up in its gender makeup, according to the League, which says the state Legislature ranks 43rd nationally based on the proportion of women members.
The 18 women currently in the Legislature are down from 23 two years ago and you have to go back to 1995 to find a smaller total. That comes at the same time Utah has its first female House Speaker in Becky Lockhart, R-Provo.
It was 1897 when Utahns elected the first woman to the Utah Legislature — Martha Hughes Cannon became the first female in the nation elected to a state Senate. In 1948, the state sent the first woman to Congress: Reva Beck Bosone.
But it took 44 years before Utah elected its second congresswoman — Karen Shepherd in 1992 (who was defeated by Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz in the next election). Touted as the "Year of the Woman," 1992 also saw Utah voters elect two women to statewide office for the first time: Attorney General Jan Graham and Lt. Gov. Olene Walker, who ran in tandem with Gov. Mike Leavitt.
Another landmark was reached in 2003 when Walker was sworn in as the first female governor in Utah history after Leavitt stepped down early to join the administration of President George W. Bush. Walker's reign didn't last long, though. Despite polls showing she was extremely popular, Republican insiders derailed her election bid in the 2004 GOP Convention.
Women in the Utah Legislature
2011 • 13 representatives, five senators
2009 • 18 representatives, five senators
2001 • 18 representatives, five senators
1995 • 16 representatives, one senator
1991 • 10 representatives, three senators
1987 • 9 representatives, one senator
1985 • 6 representatives, one senator
1981 • 6 representatives, one senator
Source: Utah legislative records