Leaders: ‘She Should Run’ is a call to action

While Idaho gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, was running for a seat in the state’s House of Representatives, she faced a moment of objectification.

“An older gentleman who was a farmer looked at my card and said that I looked more like a beauty queen than like someone who should be running for office,” Jordan told an audience Thursday evening at the University of Idaho. “And then he reads my resume and realizes, ‘Wow, you are far too qualified to be running for office.’ ”

She did not know whether to take it as a compliment or a slap in the face. It was just one moment of opposition she faced as a woman running for a legislative seat.

Jordan shared the story as one of four panelists in an event called “She Should Run,” held in the Idaho Commons Whitewater Room at the UI. She was joined by Moscow City Councilwoman Anne Zabala, Coeur d’Alene City Councilwoman Kiki Miller and Idaho State Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, via live video.

Keynoted by Arcata, Calif., Mayor Sofia Pereira, community manager of the She Should Run campaign, the event focused on women, their roles in policy-making and how women can acquire equal representation at all levels of public office.

She Should Run is a national campaign focused on encouraging women to run for elected office. Founded in 2011 to give women considering a run resources and support, the organization set a lofty goal last year: get 250,000 women running for elected office by 2030.

Panelists offered their own advice to women on how to get started in a run for election or encourage other women to run. They also shared the setbacks they experienced along the way.

Asked what they believe is the biggest reason women don’t run for office, the panelists offered several answers: women feel guilt for shifting around family commitments, they are afraid, and they begin doubting themselves.

They especially agreed on one reason. Women, they said, especially young women, often do not believe they are qualified to run in the first place.

“We set these barriers up for ourselves,” Nilsson Troy said. “I think it’s part of our culture, and we need to get over that, first of all, because … we can’t over-prepare for this. We have to just embrace that we have those skills and those talents now, today.”

Nilsson Troy encouraged women, especially those in college, to stop doubting themselves and to ask women they believe are qualified for office to run.

“It comes down to being asked (to run). It’s very simple. And when you are asked, consider it. Consider it sincerely,” Nilsson Troy said.

What happens when women are not represented equally in office? Pereira asked the panelists.

Zabala said she did not know where to begin, but mentioned reproductive rights as a major issue women in office can play a role in. Nilsson Troy said equal representation of women in a room can create synergy and a respectful workplace. Jordan said women need to have a support system of other women in public office, especially when presenting new ideas, to avoid “mansplaining” from male counterparts.

As far as practical advice to get ahead in a run for elected office, the women offered their tools, including networking, not being afraid to knock on doors, being authentic and finding the right pair of shoes.

“It’s not about style,” Miller said. “It’s about keeping up and being your best self.”

More information on She Should Run can be found at http://www.sheshouldrun.org/.

Taylor Nadauld can be reached at (208) 883-4630, by email to tnadauld@dnews.com and on Twitter @tnadualdarg.