Poised to Run: Women’s Pathways to the State Legislatures

Women legislators are more likely to say that they decided to seek elective office after receiving the suggestion to run, whereas men are more likely to say that the decision to run was entirely their idea. Thus, women candidates more often need to be recruited because they usually do not decide to run on their own. Recruitment is also important because many women encounter efforts to discourage their candidacies. About one-third of women say that someone tried to discourage them from running—most often an office holder or political party official. For women to successfully reach office they need to be recruited to run and they need encouragement and support in order to overcome any negative recruitment efforts.