Program provides political training to women in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - With the election of Sen. Joni Ernst last year, the state of Iowa finally shed its status for having never selected a female governor or member of Congress. But advocates say there is still plenty of work to do to get more women involved in politics.

On Friday the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University will kick off its fifth "Ready to Run" campaign training for women. The program, which will be held over three days between February and April, includes seminars on how to organize a campaign, raise money and deal with the media.

Dianne Bystrom, the center's director, said women in the state need encouragement to enter the political arena.

"We've finally elected a woman to Congress. Let's multiply women running," Bystrom said.

She said the training will offer information on running for elected office, as well as applying for state boards and commissions, which she said was another way to bring women into the system.

Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, said she attended the training several years before running for office.

"It provides you with a toolkit. It provides you with relationships and friendships with women," said Jones, who was re-elected to a second term last year. "I think women feel often like they need to be asked to run."

Women hold just 34 of the 150 seats in the Iowa Legislature. The state ranks 31st nationally for female participation in the legislature, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Another group in the state, called "50/50 in 2020," is working to elect women to the legislature.

Iowa politics has long been something of a boys club for a variety of reasons. The lack of term limits for the governor's office and relatively low turnover of congressional seats mean there are usually only so many open jobs for women to pursue. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad is on his second stint in the governor's office, after a 16-year run that ended in January 1999.

Ernst is proof that women can be competitive candidates when they enter open races. She shot to victory in November in the first open Senate election Iowa had seen in decades, after Democrat Tom Harkin announced his retirement from the Senate.

Academic research has also shown that, nationally, women are less likely to consider running for office because of family responsibilities or a perception that they are not qualified.

"A lot of women will say, I don't know if I'm qualified for this. Of course you are. You have a lot of life experiences and some that are very unique from what men have," said Senate President Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque.

Jochum is one of a number of women serving in top jobs in the state Capitol. House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, is another key player. And Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds is widely viewed as a likely candidate for governor in the future.

Bystrom said women in Iowa also have a unique opportunity to seek out roles in boards and commissions because under state law, officials must take gender into consideration when making appointments to state-level boards and local government panels. Those positions can help bring people into the political system, perhaps leading to other roles down the line, she said.

"People tend to feel more confident in running for higher office if they have served at a lower level," Bystrom said.

Still, Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, observed that women sometime have to contend with different challenges on the campaign trail, recalling questions about how her husband felt about her running for office.

Sinclair is the only Republican woman in the Iowa Senate. She said training programs can help but also remembered being turned off by a different seminar where she received advice about what to wear.

"I go to the grocery store in no makeup and sweat pants all the time," Sinclair said. "I think every person running for office needs some support. Take it all with a grain of salt."