There is a wave of women running for public office in Texas this year.
, about 50 women have filed to run for Congress. Patsy Woods Martin, the executive director of Annie鈥檚 List, says there is the same trend in races for the Texas Legislature.
Annie's List reaches out to women and helps them launch political campaigns. Martin says recruiting women to run for public office typically takes a lot of work.
鈥淲hat research shows is that women are not likely to self-nominate ... for running for office or in many cases leadership positions,鈥� Martin says.
Usually, she says, it helps if someone in their community asks them to run, which is what Annie鈥檚 List tries to do. This year, Martin says, that work got much easier.
鈥淲e have seen an incredible surge in interest over the course of this last year,鈥� she says. 鈥淣o one was prepared for what happened almost a year ago with the women鈥檚 marches around the state, particularly in Austin. And we were able to turn that energy into getting more women interested in running for office.鈥�
Martin says in 2016, about 76 women ran for seats in the Texas Legislature. This year, there are about 110 women who signed up to run.
These women are running for a lot of reasons, she says, but mostly because they feel things have changed since Donald Trump was elected.
鈥淲omen look up and they say, 'If a guy like Donald Trump, who has no experience and is not traditional (to be kind), can get himself elected president of the United States, surely I can get myself elected to the statehouse,鈥� she says.
Bryan Lesswing, the director of campaign communications with the national group EMILY鈥檚 List, says he sees the same thing happening nationwide.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an historic moment for EMILY鈥檚 List and, frankly, women across the country,鈥� he says.
Lesswing says between 2015 and 2016, about 920 women approached EMILY's List about running for office.
鈥淗owever, since Election Day 2016, more than 26,000 women have approached EMILY鈥檚 List about running for office," he says, "and that number is close to 1,000 in Texas.鈥� _
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