Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Tonight, champions of women’s rights – including a record number of women candidates – won control of the House of Representatives.

Voters were more determined than ever to defend women’s rights at the ballot box and in the halls of Congress. Women voted for health care, for reproductive rights, for economic justice, and for gender equality.

The #MeToo movement, the Kavanaugh hearings and an avalanche of hate speech from Donald Trump and his acolytes made voting in this election a priority for women all across the country. Polls measured voter “enthusiasm” but that’s an inadequate term for how women felt about voting. We weren’t just enthusiastic about our vote—we were passionate, we were ferocious, we were relentless.

And we won.

NOW remains committed to electing more women to office, breaking glass ceilings, smashing conventional wisdom and shattering expectations. We are gratified by the election results and energized to work with a new Congress, with women in positions of leadership and women’s rights at the top of the agenda.

The record number of women candidates in this election was a historic milestone—but we are all trailblazers today. We are writing a new chapter in the history of our democracy, and charting a new path towards justice and equality.

We won’t be stopped. We won’t be intimidated. We won’t be defeated.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

I have been amazed by the record-breaking participation by women in races at all levels across the country this midterm season. Now more than ever, women are poised to disrupt local, state, and federal elections and reach an all-time high of representation in elected office. As we celebrate these incredible achievements, it is important to remember and honor the sacrifices of our foremothers who paved the way for women today. Women like Shirley Chisholm, the first black candidate for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

A former educator, Shirley Chisholm worked her way up from State Legislator in New York to Member of the U.S. House of Representatives to Presidential Primary Candidate. Shirley Chisholm truly practiced what she preached. During her seven terms in Congress, Chisholm hired an all-female staff, half of whom were Black women. While serving in Congress she supported civil rights, women’s rights, social welfare programs and spoke out against the Vietnam War. She worked hard to support women’s rights to choose during pregnancy and sought to uplift women, especially Black women, up from restrictive gendered roles.

Chisholm started her Presidential campaign in 1972 and ran on a progressive platform that centered on prison reform, gun control, police brutality, and civil rights. It was an uphill battle, and despite her years of service to feminism and civil rights movement, she found little political support from white women or Black men. Many people were uncomfortable with the idea of supporting a Black woman candidate and her campaign was marred by racism and sexism. Despite these challenges, Chisholm did not let it dissuade her. While she would ultimately lose the election, she still garnered 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race. Chisholm continued to fight for equal rights in the House until her retirement in 1982.

Shirley Chisholm broke down racial and gender barriers in American politics and serves as an inspiration to the thousands of women running for office this year. Chisholm’s achievements were historic and paved the way for more people living at the intersections of several identities to find the courage to run for office. She is emblematic of the power that can be found in giving a voice to a diversity of people. We can honor Chisholm’s memory this election season by exercising our right to vote and supporting progressive candidates who, like Chisholm, want to create a better future by empowering women, people of color, LGBTQ people, low-income people, and immigrants.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON — The National Organization for Women stands in solidarity with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community following the horrific attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue. Eleven worshippers were gunned down by a vicious anti-Semite who felt free to express his hatred towards Jews, even as he was being arrested.

Our sadness today makes us even more determined to show that hate speech, hate crimes, racism, sexism, and cruelty disguised as political conservatism has no place in American life.

The Pittsburgh shooter’s social media posts on GAB, an alternative platform expressly created to give haven and comfort to racists, shows that hate speech is being welcomed by online communities, political networks, and supporters of politicians who preach hatred and division.

A few days before the massacre in Pittsburgh, a gunman killed two African American shoppers at a Kentucky grocery store, after failing to gain entry into a nearby black church. Local media reported that when a white man who was himself armed confronted the shooter in the store to try and stop him, the gunman said, “whites don’t kill whites” and moved on.

NOW condemns not only these violent acts but also the environment that fosters, sustains and encourages them. We have an opportunity as a nation to send a message on Election Day that intolerance and bigotry have no place in our politics, our communities, or in the White House.

On Tuesday, October 30, exactly one week before the midterm election, NOW will join a national telephone town hall to mobilize a progressive response to these events. Sign up here to join the call and take a stand with us against hate. Some are calling this a “new normal,” but in fact this is the same hatred that has plagued us for centuries. It is a backlash against the 53% of Americans who voted for a liberal feminist for President, and the two electoral majorities won by our first black President. Racists and anti-Semites feel they are losing their positions of power, and they are acting, enabling and sanctioning acts of violence and terror to preserve their privilege.

A few hours after the shooting, Donald Trump suggested he might have to cancel his evening political rally because standing in the rain while making a statement to the press about Pittsburgh was causing him to have a bad hair day. It never occurred to him to cancel his plans in order to show presidential leadership or human compassion.

We have a way of speaking out against such indifference and intolerance. Our vote is our voice—and on November 6, we will use it.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-628-8669