Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
Despite an increase in the number of women running for a legislative seat, Louisiana will continue to have a low percentage of females in the state legislature. UL Lafayette Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says the national average is about 30% while in Louisiana it is about 16%.
“I think right now, we have six women elected in the Senate, there are thirteen elected in the House and maybe seven more in contention. Those numbers leave us almost exactly where we were,” said Cross.
Ultimately, 77 women ran for legislative seats. Cross says there are multiple factors that contribute to the rise of women candidates.
“By Trump winning election, by the ‘Me Too’ movement, women got woke. They created organizations of different kinds and joined them. They had lots of political activism and when they ran they didn’t get elected,” said Cross.
Cross says while they are striving to get into power, women still have the hurdle of figuring out how to get the votes to land in office.
“They need to be better funded, they need to do more name recognition, they need to start off lower and get those positions and start working up the chain if they truly want to be successful in Louisiana,” said Cross.
