Erin Loos Cutraro, the founder of the charity She Should Run spoke to Newsweek about moving forward and the road ahead for women in politics.
In the wake of Kamala Harris’s defeat in the presidential race, the vision of a woman in the White House remains tantalizingly out of reach.
The vice president’s loss marked the second time in eight years that a woman has run for and failed to reach the Oval Office, with voters opting again to elect Donald Trump (who made history himself as the first convicted felon to be elected president). The former – and now future – president even slightly expanded his support among women this time around.
As the nation grapples with the outcome, some women are left pondering: will there ever be a female president? And with sexist and misogynistic language surging online during the campaign and after the result was declared, will any woman still want to pursue a political career and the highest office in the land?
« Politics seems toxic », said Erin Loos Cutraro, founder of She Should Run, a charity focused on getting women into politics. « Negative public discourse around female candidates, especially at the presidential level, can deter women from running, given the increasingly toxic climate. »
Research in September by She Should Run indicated that women showed no increase in considering a run for office after Harris became the Democratic nominee in August, with a shocking 78 percent of those surveyed not considering running, the same level as in June.
