Local Government

Voters in Ferguson, Mo., made history Tuesday by electing Ella Jones as the city's first black mayor.

The election took place as protesters filled the streets of many U.S. cities, rallying against systemic racism and police brutality faced by many black communities.

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily press briefings have captivated millions across the country, many upstate residents probably have heard more from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul lately.

Hochul has often served as a booster for Cuomo’s agenda, a trusted voice to field media questions on the issues of the day and a regional whisperer for western New York. That role has become more prominent, not less, since the coronavirus pandemic hit and New Yorkers turned to state government for guidance.

For the first time in U.S. history six women stood on a national platform campaigning to become our next president. That momentum of women wanting to take on political roles continued in Louisiana.

Sawako Naito, a 36-year-old independent rookie, was elected head of the city of Tokushima on Sunday, becoming the youngest female mayor in Japan.

Naito, who leads a community development group, defeated incumbent Mayor Akiyoshi Endo, 64, by 41,247 votes to 39,248.

Voter turnout fell to 38.88 percent from 45.70 percent in the previous mayoral election.

In October 2020, Brazilians will head to the polls to elect new mayors and city counselors in thousands of municipalities across the country. For the first time in history, Brazil’s thirty-five individual political parties will be required by law to allocate at least 30 percent of their campaign funding toward the election of women candidates.

Government is working on ensuring greater participation of women at local government level.

This comes after the representation of women in local government declined from 16 percent to 15 percent.

Out of 6 800 candidates who contested in elections for seats in the 92 local authorities, only 1156 (17 percent) were women.

Rwanda celebrated another victory for gender representation on Nov. 5 when President Paul Kagame reshuffled his cabinet — and in the process, increased the number of female ministers from from 26 to 27.
As a result, the country now has more female ministers than male. Women now make up 52% of the cabinet.