Female Supremacy Articles - Page 13

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Wash. State's Women in Charge Politically

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: January 25, 2005

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- In Washington politics, women rule. Never before has a state had a woman in the governor's mansion and both U.S. Senate seats. Also, all of the state Senate's leadership positions are held by women.

This is a state where female politicians' voices are clearly heard.

``The barriers and the hang-ups just aren't there,'' said state Sen. Margarita Prentice, a Seattle Democrat and the Senate's new budget chairwoman. In Washington politics, ``we've always said that the edge is for the woman.''

And the numbers have backed that up for more than a decade. Beginning in 1993, the state had the highest percentage of women legislators in the country, though after the November elections their share dropped from 40 percent to 33.3 percent.

Maryland has become the new leader, followed by Delaware, and Washington fell into a third-place tie with Arizona, Nevada and Vermont, according to Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

But even while losing numbers, women in the Evergreen State increased their power in the state Senate, holding all five leadership positions, including that of majority leader. And Democrat Christine Gregoire was elected governor after three counts in an excruciatingly close contest that is still being fought in the courts.