Jennifer Seelig is among a few handfuls of women legislators who are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts. Half of all the state is female, but fewer than one in five legislators are women. Neighboring Colorado tallies two female legislators to every three men.
Nationally, almost a quarter of state legislators in the United States are women. But the proportion of women in the Utah Legislature is the lowest it has been since 1998. According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, only four states have a smaller female percentage: Alabama, Oklahoma, Louisiana and South Carolina. And no women in Utah hold a statewide or congressional office.
Now, lawmakers and others are working to change that by recruiting female candidates.
Real Women Run, a Utah group dedicated to raising the number of Utah women in politics, urges women to join boards or commissions like Seelig did. The group also holds classes for women interested in running for office.
As a woman and a nurse, Biskupski said, Lockhart brought a new perspective to the House floor. That perspective made Lockhart instrumental, Biskupski said, in passing legislation which allowed midwives to enter homes without a doctor present. "There was so much work that went into it," Biskupski said. "She was instrumental in bringing both sides together."
Lockhart cited what she called Utah's cultural focus on family as a reason that few women in the state run for office.
Lockhart emphasized the importance of networking at local political party gatherings as an important tool in recruiting women.
After serving as a commissioner, Seelig, the House minority leader, said she hesitated for a few months before deciding to vie for a seat in the House. She credits her stints as a commissioner and a common counselor as training grounds that taught her to state her case, listen actively and adjust to the public spotlight. Deseret News
