The Fight to Achieve Representation By Kate Marijolovic Staff writer
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n the over 200 years since Ohio became a state, a woman has never represented the state in the U.S. Senate. Ohio’s only female governor, Nancy Hollister, was not elected, and she only held office for 11 days in 1998 between the gubernatorial terms of George Voinovich and Bob Taft. According to research conducted in 2018 by The Matriots, a non-partisan political action committee supporting women candidates in Ohio, women made up 29% of elected officials in the state. In Athens County in 2018, 27% of
elected officials were women. Of the 161 candidates endorsed by the PAC in the past three years, 99 have been elected. Director of Finance and Development for The Matriots Shiloh Todorov said The Matriots hope to endorse 200 candidates for state and local offices in 2021. The Matriots’ mission is to support female candidates as they run for office. Todorov said the PAC’s goal is achieving equity. “Our whole focus is helping women, from village and township roles to the statehouse and state Supreme Court, get elected to office at the rate at which we are residents of the state, so 51%,” Todorov said. Only 30% of the current Ohio Legislature is made up of women, a far cry from the 51% female representation The Matriots PAC is hoping to reach. Todorov said many factors play a role in why women choose not to run for office. “Some of it is direct forces working against women, some of it is our own perception of what we’re capable of, and some of it is just not a lot of people are encouraging women to run,” Todorov said. Fundraising is more difficult for women candidates than their counterparts,
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