Women Clean House: NOW PAC Celebrates Key Wins

Statement of NOW PAC Chair Kim Gandy

November 8, 2006

Voters looking for a change on Tuesday, Nov. 7, swept in a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, ensuring that the U.S. House will be under new leadership come January.

We look forward to cheering as Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) breaks through the "marble ceiling" - the government version of the corporate "glass ceiling" -- when she is elected by her peers as Speaker of the House, the highest office ever held by a woman in the United States.

Women voters cleaned House.  We turned out on Tuesday to turn out the politicians who were tuning out our concerns.  Women are fed up with the "stay the course" strategy in Iraq, the so-called economic recovery that has left most of the country behind, and the relentless efforts to limit women's reproductive rights.  The "gender gap" is alive and well, and making a difference on election day.

We also registered a critical win for reproductive rights in South Dakota, where the state's draconian abortion ban was soundly defeated by the voters of that state.

A number of NOW PAC-endorsed women candidates also won on Tuesday, including newcomers Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona and Kirsten Gillibrand in New York, who have been declared winners.

When the results are complete, I am confident that we will be sending more progressive women to Washington, D.C. than ever before.  It is imperative that women's voices be heard at the highest levels of our government, and the voters clearly agree.  I hope a change in leadership will result in a real change in direction for the United States at this pivotal time.

A list of NOW PAC-endorsed and supported winners is available at http://www.nowpacs.org/2006/winners.html (updated as results come in).

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Bennett