Since 1987, the nation has used the month of March to celebrate National Women’s History Month, noting significant strides women have made throughout history, not just in the political arena.
Since the first woman was elected to Congress in 1916, 249 women have been appointed or elected. Currently 16 percent of U.S. Senators and 16 percent of U.S. Representatives are women.
In Frederick County, a woman leads the Board of County Commissioners, several are members of the Board of Education, one sits on the county’s delegation to the General Assembly, and several serve as leaders on the municipal level.
Democrat Jan H. Gardner is currently president of the Board of County Commissioners, Bonnie M. Borsa is vice president of the Board of Education, Deborah Burgoyne is the mayor of Burkittsville and Hecht is a state delegate and a leading member of the Maryland Democratic Party.
‘‘I think it’s really important for women to run for office,” said Hecht, 60, who is serving her second four-year term in Annapolis. ‘‘We need at least 25 percent women in [the General Assembly] because there are certain issues that affect women and we need them pushed forward. It just makes it easier.”
Hecht, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in three previous presidential elections, is heading this summer to Denver, Colo., to cast her vote for Clinton.
Hecht believes Clinton’s strong bid for president will enlighten other women to enter politics.
‘‘To have a woman running for president is such a role model for young women coming up. It’s just so exciting,” she said.
Stup paves the way
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Stup was one of the leading female politicians in Frederick County.
She served as a county commissioner from 1982 to 1990, and from 1986 to 1990, she served as board president.
In 1990, Stup was elected state delegate for District 3. She was the only Republican woman in the House and the only female state delegate in all of Western Maryland.
‘‘I was very proud,” Stup, 63, said. ‘‘The voters have always been very good to me.”
Active in school-related and PTA issues, Stup was first asked to run for county commissioner in 1982, by local party leaders.
Stup accepted the challenge, knowing that the sitting board president, Mary G. Williams, was feeling the heat from her male colleagues. Williams was the first woman in the county to be elected commissioner.
‘‘She had a very tough time, both because she was a woman and because she was president,” Stup said. ‘‘They chewed her up and spit her out.”
Stup said her time in office ran smoothly. Now retired from politics, Stup continues to keep tabs on local issues and believes she paved the way female politicians in the county today. ‘‘Absolutely,” she said.
A road less traveled
More women are running for political office when compared to 30 years ago, but women are still significantly less likely than men to express interest in public service. Women in leadership positions are often forced to fight underlying sexism, prejudice and double standards, according to Frederick city Alderman Donna Kuzemchak (D).
She believes a ‘‘natural prejudice” against women in office exists in this county and elsewhere. Many people think women politicians should not act too aggressively, though their male colleagues are often praised and admired for these character traits, Kuzemchak said. This double standard is something women leaders have to deal with every day, she added.
When Michele Tartaglia resigned from the Myersville Town Council last year, residents of the small town assumed it was because she is a woman. Tartaglia said that was not the case.
In fact, she resigned in protest to town management that prevented her from being an effective elected leader, she said.
‘‘People in town said it was because I was a woman,” she said. ‘‘I was so upset, because the message got out ... It is hard to be a woman in politics and there is some truth to that, but that is not what happened. If anything that would make me stay more.”
For Katie Nash, 25, that challenge is exciting.
Nash, chief of staff for state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, (R-Dist. 36), already has a political resume that many would find daunting.
Calling herself a ‘‘moderate Republican,” Nash is a member of the Republican Women of Greater Frederick, and waved signs in support of George W. Bush during his presidential campaign. She also served on the Frederick County Republican Central Committee.
Nash graduated in 2004 from Hood College with an undergraduate degree in politics and in May she will earn her master’s degree in business.
Nash credits Hood with giving her the understanding of what it means to be a woman in the male-dominated world of politics.
‘‘I went to Hood when it was all women and it shaped my viewpoint of how women related to the world,” she said. ‘‘It gave me a deeper understanding.”
Nash now hopes one day to run for an elected office in Frederick County. ‘‘I do see a life of public service ahead of me,” she said. ‘‘I graduate in May, so we’ll see from there. There are a lot of exciting things happening in Frederick.”
Women in politics
Women occupy 23.6 percent (1,741) of the 7,382 state legislator positions in the U.S., including state senate and state house seats. States with the highest percentages of women state legislators are:
Vermont 37.8%
New Hampshire 35.6
Washington 35.4
Colorado 35.0
Minnesota 34.8
Hawaii 32.9
Arizona 32.2
Maryland 31.4
Maine 31.2
Oregon 31.1
Source: Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University
