Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) are the first women to lead the Senate and House campaign committees for the Democratic party. While women have certainly made gains in Congress over the last 30 years, they hold only 14 percent of seats, and have not been able to crack the top leadership positions in either party. Sen. Murray and Rep. Lowey will be under a lot of pressure, says the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University; how effective Sen. Murray and Rep. Lowey are in helping the Democrats grab a majority in the 2002 elections could affect women’s ability to achieve positions of power in Congress in the next few years. EMILY’s List suggests that it is women’s lack of access to men’s financial networks that has locked them out of party leadership. Both Sen. Murray and Rep. Lowey have already begun to approach funders.
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