Download streaming video of What's At Stake For Women in 2008 With Lisa Maatz, Public Policy Director for the American Association of University Women recorded on 11/10/2007 at North Country Community College Saranac Lake, New York for the District 7 Fall Conference of AAUW-NYS.
Updated: May 6, 2008
Indiana and North Carolina will hold the next primaries on May 6. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 2, 2008.
Hillary Clinton won the “do-over” caucus this past Saturday in Clark County, Nevada. After Clinton’s win in the January 19 precinct caucus, both she and Barack Obama launched get-out-the-votes campaigns in preparation for the February 23 county convention. As a result of these efforts, three times the number of expected voters turned out, causing extreme disorganization and traffic jams. The convention was shut down and rescheduled for April 12, with no winner declared.
In efforts to avoid a repeat of the February 23 debacle, only confirmed delegates were allowed to participate. Over 6,000 delegates participated–Clinton winning 1,330 while Obama took 1,133. Prior to this election, Obama had the majority of delegates in other Nevada counties. But after her win in the state’s most populous county, Clinton took the statewide lead with 1,718 delegates, compared to Obama’s 1,645.
The next state to hold primaries is Pennsylvania, with contests for both parties on April 22. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries
- from AAUW's Washington Update for April 18, 2008.
The number of women in Congress reached a new record with the April 8 election of Jackie Speier, a Democrat from Hillsborough, Calif., to fill a vacancy. Eighty-seven women now serve in Congress: 16 in the Senate and 71 in the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Of these, 20--or 23 percent--are women of color.
Former Democratic Senator Mike Gravel (AK) announced on Wednesday that he will seek the presidential nomination through the Libertarian Party.
The next state to hold primaries is Pennsylvania, with contests for both parties on April 22. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 28, 2008.
Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), former presidential candidate, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on Friday. The next state to hold primaries is Pennsylvania, with contests for both parties on April 22.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 21, 2008.
The Democratic caucus was held in Wyoming on March 8, and voters in both parties headed to the polls in Mississippi on March 11. On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) won the Wyoming Democratic caucus and the Mississippi primary with 61 percent of the vote in each contest. According to CNN, Sen. Obama is still leading the race with 1,611 delegates, compared with Sen. Clinton’s 1,480 delegates. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) continued to rack up delegates after clinching the required 1,191 delegates to secure the GOP presidential nomination earlier this month.
CNN also reported that 58 percent of the Democratic voters in the Mississippi primary were women, and those women favored Sen. Obama over Sen. Clinton 58 percent to 39 percent. Women made up 47 percent of the Republican voters in Mississippi.
The next state to hold primaries is Pennsylvania, with contests for both parties on April 22. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 14, 2008.
Voters in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island took to the polls on Tuesday. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) clinched the GOP presidential nomination by winning the primaries in all four states and capturing more than the required 1,191 delegates to secure the party’s nod. His chief Republican rival, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), withdrew from the race late Tuesday night. On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won the primaries in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island, while Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) won the primary in Vermont and the post-election caucus in Texas. According to CNN, Sen. Obama is still leading the race with 1,451 delegates, compared with Sen. Clinton’s 1,365 delegates.
CNN also reported that 59 percent of the Democratic voters in the Ohio primary were women, and those women favored Sen. Clinton over Sen. Obama 58 percent to 40 percent. Similar numbers were seen in Texas, where women made up 57 percent of the Democratic voters and favored Sen. Clinton 55 percent over Sen. Obama’s 44 percent. Women made up 49 percent of the Republican voters in Texas and 46 percent of the voters in Ohio.
Wyoming holds its Democratic caucus on Saturday, March 8, followed by primaries for both parties in Mississippi on Tuesday, March 11. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 7, 2008.
Still running: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK), Alan Keyes (R), and Ralph Nader (I).
Previously dropped out: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D-DE), Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-WI), Former Gov. Frank Keating (R-OK), John H. Cox (R-IL), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA), Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D), Former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA), Former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY), Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), and Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D), Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA), and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).
- from AAUW's Washington Update for April 18, 2008.
Voters in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island head to the polls next on March 4. On the Democratic side, 444 delegates are at stake, while 265 delegates are at stake on the Republican side. Many see these primaries as a critical defining moment in Sen. Clinton’s campaign. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for February 29, 2008.
Over the past week, voters in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, Louisiana, and Maine cast their vote in primaries and caucuses. During these contests, former Gov. John McCain (AR) solidified his lead on the Republican side, and Sen. Barack Obama (IL) emerged as the slight leader for the Democratic Party. However, the delegates awarded during these contests have yet to confirm a nominee on either side. Thus far, Sen. Obama has been awarded 1259 delegates, compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (NY) 1212 delegates, and former Gov. McCain has been awarded 830, compared to Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (AK) 217, according to a CNN delegate count.
To win the nomination, a Democratic candidate must receive the votes of 2,025 delegates and a Republican candidate must receive the votes of 1,191 delegates. In addition to those delegates selected during the primaries and caucuses, the Democratic Party also uses 796 superdelegates (party members of the House and Senate, Democratic governors, former House and Senate party leaders, and Democratic National Committee dignitaries). According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Sen. Clinton has received the support of 243 superdelegates, compared to 156 who support Sen. Obama. The rest remain uncommitted.
On the Republican side, former Gov. Mitt Romney has stated that he will endorse Sen. McCain, releasing his 280 delegates and asking them to support the Republican frontrunner, according to the Associated Press.
According to CNN, exit polls out of Virginia and Maryland showed that Sen. Obama won roughly 60 percent of the female Democratic vote, a demographic that has supported Sen. Clinton in past primaries. Sen. Clinton maintained her support among white women, who voted for her over Sen. Obama by 10 points in Virginia and 13 points in Maryland.
The Democratic primary in Hawaii and primaries for both parties in Wisconsin are up next on February 19. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for February 15, 2008.
February 5 was Super Tuesday, the day the largest number of states (24) ever had a primary or caucus (or in one case—West Virginia Republicans—a state convention). With so many nominating delegates at stake, Super Tuesday could have effectively settled who would be getting each party’s nomination, but it didn’t. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain (AZ) came out of Super Tuesday the clear winner in the delegate count with 561 to former Gov. Mitt Romney’s (MA) 222 and former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (AR) 172. On Thursday, Mitt Romney announced that he is suspending his campaign.
For the Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has won 635 delegates, slightly more than Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (NY) 630. However, the Democratic Party uses super delegates (party members of the House and Senate, Democratic governors, former House and Senate party leaders, and Democratic National Committee dignitaries), more of whom are expected to support Clinton, giving her the lead. The nomination of either party may not be decided until the final primary or may not be finalized until the nominating conventions this summer.
According to Women’s eNews and EMILY’s List, women accounted for between 55 percent and 62 percent of the electorate on Tuesday. Overall, women were more likely to vote Democratic than men, who were more likely to vote Republican. While Sen. Clinton maintained her lead with Democratic women voters (53 percent overall, 59 percent of white women, 64 percent of Latinas, and 55 percent of women over the age of 60), 80 percent of black women voted for Sen. Obama. Sen. McCain held a small lead over Mr. Romney among women voters.
Democrats in Nebraska, Republicans in Kansas, and voters in both parties in Washington state and Louisiana head to the polls on Feb. 9, followed by Democrats in Maine on Feb. 10 and voters in both parties in Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia on Feb. 12. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for February 8, 2008.
Voters headed to the polls on Jan. 26 to participate in South Carolina’s Democratic state primary. Sen. Barack Obama (IL) took 55 percent of the votes. Sen. Hilary Clinton (NY) and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) followed with 27 percent and 18 percent, respectively. The Democratic primary followed the Republican primary in South Carolina, which took place on Jan. 19. Both the Republican and the Democratic primaries took place in Florida on Jan. 29. For the Republicans, Sen. John McCain (AZ) secured all 57 of the state’s delegates with 36 percent of the votes (in Florida, all delegates are pledged to the winner). Former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) followed with 31 percent of the vote. For the Democrats, Sen. Clinton won with 50 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Obama with 33 percent, and former Sen. Edwards with 14 percent. However, the Democratic National Committee had previously stripped Florida of all delegates because of a change in the date of the primary.
CNN reported that women made up 61 percent of all Democratic voters in South Carolina. Sen. Obama received 54 percent of the votes for both male and female Democratic voters. Sen. Clinton received 30 percent of the female votes. In Florida, women made up 59 percent of Democratic voters and 44 percent of Republican voters. 54 percent of female Democratic voters cast their ballots for Sen. Clinton. Of all female Republican voters, 34 percent voted for Sen. McCain and 30 percent voted for former Gov. Romney.
The Republican primary in Maine is next up on Feb. 1, followed by Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, when voters in 23 states will cast their ballots. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for February 1, 2008.
On Saturday, voters across Nevada attended caucuses while Republicans in South Carolina cast their primary votes. In the Nevada Democratic race, Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) came out on top with 51 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Barack Obama (IL) with 45 percent and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) with 4 percent. On the Republican side in Nevada, former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) took the top slot with 51 percent of the vote, followed by Rep. Ron Paul (TX) with 14 percent, Sen. John McCain (AZ) with 13 percent, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (TN) with 8 percent each. In the Republican primary in South Carolina, Sen. John McCain (AZ) took the top slot with 33 percent of the vote, followed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) with 30 percent, former Sen. Fred Thompson (TN) with 16 percent, and former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) with 15 percent.
CNN reported that women made up 49 percent of Republican voters overall in South Carolina. Of those female Republican voters, 34 percent voted for McCain, 33 percent voted for Huckabee, and Romney and Thompson were nearly tied with 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively. In Nevada, 59 percent of the Democratic votes and 48 percent of the Republican votes were cast by females. For the Democratic nomination, Clinton won among female voters with 51 percent of the female vote, followed by Obama with 38 percent and Edwards with 8 percent. On the Republican side, Romney was the clear winner among both female voters, garnering 55 percent of the female vote, with McCain a distant second at 12 percent.
The South Carolina Democratic primary will take place on January 26, with Florida primaries for both parties following on January 29. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for January 25, 2008.
Voters across Michigan cast their ballots in the state’s primary on Tuesday. On the Republican side, former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) took the top slot with 39 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. John McCain (AZ) with 30 percent and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) with 16 percent. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the only Democratic front-runner on the ballot, took 55 percent of the vote. The other top-tier candidates removed their names from the ballot at the request of the Democratic National Committee, which earlier stripped the state of its delegates for the decision to break party rules and schedule its primary early. Forty percent of Michigan Democratic voters, including many supporters of Sen. Barack Obama (IL) and former Sen. John Edwards (NC), voted “uncommitted” on the ballot.
CNN reported that women made up 44 percent of Republican voters overall in Michigan and that 39 percent of those voters supported former Gov. Mitt Romney, compared with the 29 percent who supported Sen. John McCain. Women made up 57 percent of Democratic voters overall, with 60 percent of women supporting Sen. Clinton and 36 percent of women voting in the “uncommitted” category.
Nevada will hold caucuses for both parties this Saturday, January 19, the same day South Carolina holds its Republican primary. The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for January 18, 2008.
Voters across New Hampshire cast their ballots Tuesday in the first primary of the 2008 election cycle. In the Democratic race, Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) came out on top with 39 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Barack Obama (IL) with 36 percent and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) with 17 percent. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain (AZ) took the top slot with 37 percent of the vote, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) with 32 percent and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) with 11 percent.
According to Congressional Quarterly, women made up 57 percent of Democratic voters overall, and women voters supported Sen. Clinton over Sen. Obama 46 percent to 34 percent. CNN reported that women made up 43 percent of Republican voters overall and that 38 percent of those voters supported Sen. McCain, compared with the 32 percent who supported former Gov. Mitt Romney.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for January 11, 2008.
Iowans gathered in record number across the state on Thursday to kick off the 2008 election cycle. In the Democratic race, Sen. Barack Obama (IL) came out on top with 38 percent of the vote, followed by former Sen. John Edwards (NC) with 30 percent and Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) with 29 percent. On the Republican side, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) took the top slot with 34 percent of the vote, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) with 25 percent. New Hampshire will hold the first primary on Tuesday, January 8.
According to the Associated Press, "Obama's strength also enabled him to narrowly capture a banner that many national polls showed belonged to Clinton: women. He got 35 percent of their support, compared to 30 percent for the New York senator and 23 percent for Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina. In other words, only three in 10 women backed the candidate who if victorious would be the first female president.
"There was a winner in Iowa Thursday who had majority support from women, but it was Huckabee. Fifty-two percent of his votes came from women, making him the only GOP candidate to get more than half his support from females."
The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a complete list of primary dates, delegate counts, candidate profiles, and articles to help you follow the primaries.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for January 4, 2008.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential frontrunner momentum further deflated after she failed to secure a victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus. CNN reported from exit polls that 35 percent of Democratic women overall voted for Sen. Barack Obama, and 30 percent voted for Clinton. Among women 60 and over, Clinton received 43 percent, while Obama received 19 percent and former Sen. John Edwards 26 percent.
On the Republican side, caucus victor Gov. Mike Huckabee received 40 percent of the women's vote, followed by Gov. Mitt Romney's 24 percent.
Altogether, 57 percent of voters who participated in the caucuses were female, according to Women's Voices, Women Vote. Unmarried women in particular had a strong turnout, the voter education group announced. Single women comprised 28 percent of Democratic caucus-goers but represent only 22 percent of registered voters in Iowa.
- from CHEERS AND JEERS OF THE WEEK by the Womens eNews.org for Januray 5, 2008
The Every Woman Counts Coalition will sponsor the "If I Were President" forum with both Republican and Democratic candidates for president in Manchester, New Hampshire. Recent Every Woman Counts polls revealed that an overwhelming majority of women (77%) - and 41% in New Hampshire - are not yet committed to any candidate, but more than 60% say that there is more at stake than during previous elections. The "If I Were President" forum is a chance for women from New Hampshire and across the country to join together during the critical final stretch before the primary and hear from Democratic and Republican candidates about the issues that matter most to women. Several AAUW members will be in attendance at the event, and AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz will be there as well to discuss issues of equity for women and girls with representatives of several of the campaigns. Formed by Lifetime Networks in partnership with Hearst Magazines REDBOOK, CosmoGIRL!, and Marie Claire, the Every Woman Counts Coalition comprises leading national nonprofit organizations such as AAUW.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for January 4, 2008.