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Colorado's percentage of women lawmakers is tops in U.S.

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 26, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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When B.J. Nikkel - known to her family as Betty June - was sworn in as a state representative last week, Colorado boosted its already impressive record of having the highest percentage of women lawmakers in the country.

Colorado held that distinction even before Nikkel, a Loveland Republican, took office, replacing a male lawmaker who had gone to the state Senate.

Forty percent of Colorado's lawmakers are women; nationally, the average is 24.2 percent.

"I just think it's great that Colorado is leading the way," said Katie Fischer Ziegler, a policy specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ziegler said one reason Colorado might be leading the nation is that the White House Project, a national, nonpartisan organization that pushes to put women in leadership, has been "very active in Colorado."

"They did a lot of recruiting," she said.

What makes Colorado's record even more remarkable is that victories by Republican women have dwindled in recent elections. Nancy Spence of Centennial is the lone Republican woman in the Senate.

But eight GOP women serve in the House. "That's our farm team for the Senate, so maybe help is on the way," Spence said.

As Nikkel was sworn in, Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, beamed. "More women, more women," she said.

Nikkel said several Republican women told her how glad they were to have her expand their ranks.

But the real story is Democratic women. They outnumber Democratic men in the Senate and were able to win two leadership races expected to go to men. Half of the 38 Democrats in the House are women.

Their numbers are such that gender is almost a non-issue.

"It has taken a long time, but people are used to the idea that women can be in these positions," said Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, elected to the House in 2008.

"It's commonplace for us," said Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver. "And I'm glad it is. I think having so many women lawmakers is a great thing."

No. 1 in the nation

Colorado has the highest percentage of women state lawmakers in the nation. Forty of its 100 lawmakers are women.

* COLORADO SENATE

21 Democrats, 12 are women

14 Republicans, 1 is a woman

* COLORADO HOUSE

38 Democrats, 19 are women

27 Republicans, 8 are women

* STATES WITH HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN LAWMAKERS

Colorado, 40.0%

Vermont, 37.8%

New Hampshire, 37.3%

Minnesota, 34.8%

Hawaii, 32.9%

* STATES WITH LOWEST PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN LAWMAKERS

South Carolina, 10.0%

Oklahoma, 11.4%

Alabama, 12.9%

Mississippi, 14.4%

Kentucky, 14.5%

Source: Colorado General Assembly; National Conference of State Legislatures

Comments

  • January 26, 2009

    4:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    44roger writes:

    And what has that done for us? we are in debt, leaders raising fees, and spending more time figuring out how to get more out of the taxpayer rather than doing some serious cutting of the budget. when one female says we need a law saying pilots in training need to learn how to land a plane as well as take off, well, maybe there's better things to worry about than that. And, law states all trainees must have background check if out of country, and that isn't being enforced, they ignored the warnings from the FBI about planes before 9/11. get real...

  • January 26, 2009

    9:12 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ghoax writes:

    equality equality, men are not equally represented! lawsuit lawsuit! where's the ACLU? Separation of Women and State! No taxation without Equal representation! Mens rights! They use language offensive to Men, no fair! It's sexism!

    ...sounds about like what would happen if the situation were more men in power.

  • January 26, 2009

    10:32 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    JLynn writes:

    Interesting. Colorado voters select women 40 percent of the time but when the Governor had an opportunity to appoint both a Secretary of State and a US Senator, I don't recall any women being considered.