Pittsburgh may be at the top of a lot of lists – best place to retire, 10th most romantic city in the US, most liveable city.  However, Pittsburgh and the entire state of Pennsylvania are WAY behind when it comes to women in politics.

Some sobering stats on the state of women in politics in Pennsylvania:

• Pennsylvania ranks 47th when looking at the number of women holding elected office, and 47th in terms of women’s overall political participation in our state. (via WomenVotePA)
• State Senate – only 16% are women
• State House – only 18% are women
• Pennsylvanian ranks 38 out of 50 states in terms of women in State Legislatures (via Center for American Women in Politics)

You can help to change these numbers – vote, support a candidate, run for office.

Christine Todd Whitman – Former Gov. of NJ speaks at a PCWP event in 2011

For starters – get to know the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics, which happens to be housed right here in Pittsburgh at Chatham College. Continue reading →