When Women Win

The inside story of the rise of women in elected office over the past quarter-century, from the pioneering founder of three-million-member EMILY's List. In 1985, aware of the near-total absence of women in Congress, Ellen Malcolm launched EMILY's List, a powerhouse political organization that seeks to ignite change by getting women elected to office. The rest is history: from 1986, when there were 12 Democratic women in the House and none in the Senate, EMILY's List has helped elect 19 women senators, 11 governors, and 110 Democratic women to the House. Incorporating exclusive interviews with Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Tammy Baldwin, and others, this book delivers stories of some of the toughest political contests of the past three decades, including the historic victory of Barbara Mikulski as the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right; the defeat of Todd Akin ("legitimate rape") by Claire McCaskill; and Elizabeth Warren's dramatic win over incumbent Massachusetts senator Scott Brown. When Women Win is Ellen Malcolm's own story--of the explosive effects on women's political engagement following Anita Hill's sexual harassment testimony against Clarence Thomas; of heartbreaking losses and unprecedented victories -- but it's also a page-turning political saga that may well lead up to the election of the first woman president of the United States.--Adapted from dust jacket.