cross posted from Our Word
It appears that the men and women of Iowa have a problem with women holding elected office. It is the only state besides Mississippi to have never elected a woman to the governorship or congress.
from the LA Times (registration required)
Since 1920, when women gained the right to vote, only 11 women have won statewide election in Iowa. All told, 21 states have elected women as governors, and eight states have a woman in the statehouse today.
It looks like women, particularly older women, are being blamed for this situation:
Among the possible explanations is Iowa’s predominantly senior population and their deeply held views on the role of women as well as the tendency for urban areas to elect more women than rural states.
Iowa ranks fourth in the nation in the percentage of its population 65 and older and is heavily rural. The city of Des Moines is the state’s largest, with close to 200,000 residents.
Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for the Study of Women in Politics at Iowa State University, said surveys “show that older women tend to be less supportive of other women than younger women.”
Ann Hutchinson, who recently ran for Congress from Iowa and lost, has this to say:
“There are barriers in attitudes, particularly among women,” Hutchinson said. “Why is it that women don’t want other women to succeed?”
Joy Corning, a republican and one of the few women to hold statewide elected office in Iowa, served as lieutenant governor for 2 terms. Although her race for governor never took off, she says:
“I had never felt I was discriminated against because I was a woman. But, you know, there may have been some subtle things that I missed,” Corning said. “I don’t know the answer.”