INDReporter

Dead last. That's where La. ranks in female representation

by Leslie Turk

No wonder we can't get an equal pay for women bill of the state Legislature. And from the looks of things, it's only getting worse.

It's shocking really, and sad.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu

In this June 27 story, HuffPo's Danielle Schlanger breaks down the pathetic state of our state when it comes to women representing us in the Legislature. While the state has gender parity among its U.S. senators - thank you, Mary Landrieu - it has the smallest proportion of women in its Legislature, 11.8 percent.

Schlanger writes:

A host of factors have been proposed as reasons why Louisiana women are underrepresented in state government. Experts have cited trouble encouraging Republican women to run for office, state culture, perceived barriers to entry and lack of structural support for potential candidates. Though Democrats and Republicans may disagree on many issues, women in both parties are asking why they aren't running, and what can be done to get more of them involved. ...

Only 13 out of the 105 members serving in Louisiana's House of Representatives are women, as are just 4 out of the 39 state senators. These figures are lower than they were in 2005, when there were seven women in the state Senate and 18 in the House. Moreover, there are currently no women holding statewide office in Louisiana, and only one woman representing the state in the U.S. Congress.

One of the main distinctions experts make between Louisiana and other states when examining the dearth of women is the state's strong Republican leanings. The GOP has a majority in both the state Senate and House.
What's worse, the analysis finds, there appears to be no fix in sight. Read the story here.