For Immediate Release
August 11, 2020
Contact:
Michal Rosenoer, Executive Director
Emerge Colorado
(828) 577-3541
michal@emergeco.org
Emerge Applauds Selection of Senator Kamala Harris, Calls for More Women Appointees
Washington, DC–In reaction to former Vice President Joe Biden announcing US Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate, Emerge President A’shanti F. Gholar and Emerge Colorado Executive Director Michal Rosenoer released the following statements:
“We applaud Vice President Joe Biden on picking Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. This is a historic choice that shows how serious Vice President Biden and his administration will be in having women and Black, brown and Indigenous people in important decision-making roles,” said A’shanti F. Gholar, President of Emerge. “Senator Harris has been a longtime supporter of Emerge. Her story of rising from city district attorney to California Attorney General to U.S. Senator and now potentially being the next Vice President of the United States, is the story of Emerge. She is a role model for every woman who seeks to serve and make a change in her community.
“We cannot stop here. It’s critical that women are at the table throughout the government, and we look forward to Vice President Biden’s team continuing to select women, particularly women of color, for key leadership and cabinet positions.”
“This is an exciting announcement for the Biden campaign and for Democratic women across the country,” said Michal Rosenoer, Executive Director of Emerge Colorado. “If you can see it, you can be it. And Vice President Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris is a powerful signal to women — and especially Black women — that they can and should step up to lead through elected office and public service. We look forward to training future Kamalas to lead in Colorado.”
According to the Center for American Women in Politics, only 53 women have served in 60 cabinet-level appointments since 1933. The Obama Administration had the most concurrently serving women appointees with 8 or 35% of the positions. Women comprise 51% of the population. Colorado was the first state to grant women the right to vote through a popular referendum and the first state to elect women to serve in its state legislature. In 2018, the state made history when it became one of the first two states in the nation to have a majority-woman State House. Emerge Colorado has trained over 450 Democratic women to run for office in Colorado since 2012, and maintains a 90% win-rate. Emerge Colorado currently has 49 alumnae serving in elected office and 38 running for office in 2020.
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