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Group Lobbies for More Women in Top State Jobs
COLUMBIA — Blame it on lower confidence, trouble raising money, family duties or distaste for politics.
When it comes to elected office and state leadership positions, Palmetto State women tend to shun and be shunned.
A nonpartisan group wants that to change.
"Our goal is to identify women with exceptional ability who are willing to serve, then provide the names and resumes of those women to our new governor," said Candy Waites, executive director and co-chair of the S.C. Gubernatorial Appointments Project.
"From there, we hope these women's qualifications will speak for themselves." Georgia, Florida and eight other states have a similar effort.
South Carolina voters will choose a replacement for outgoing Gov. Mark Sanford on Nov. 2.
The advocates asked the gubernatorial candidates to sign a pledge of support, but on Tuesday stressed that signing the document would not force the next governor to appoint women, just to consider them.
"Appointing the best-qualified person for a position is my mission, but I also know highly qualified women in this state are being overlooked," reads the pledge.
The Democratic nominee, Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden, has signed it, while the Republican nominee, Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington, has declined.
"Nikki is not going to make any pledges in reference to appointments, other than this one," said Haley's communications director, Rob Godfrey.
"She will always choose the highest qualified person for the job without regard to race or gender."
Deb Sofield, co-chair of the project, a Republican commissioner of public works for the city of Greenville, said the S.C. Gubernatorial Appointments Project (S.C. GAP) is not calling for quotas.
"Governors in the past have said they have had trouble identifying women to fill appointments," she said.
"We're helping them identify potential female appointees, because we believe a lot of talent is going untapped."
S.C. GAP is an initiative of the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, a nonpartisan organization that encourages and prepares women to run for office.
Women make up 35 percent of the 1,800 gubernatorial appointees to boards and commissions in South Carolina, compared to 51.3 percent of the state's population, according to the institute.
Of state agency heads, four out of 15 appointed by the governor are women.
South Carolina comes in dead last nationwide with the smallest percentage of women legislators. With no female state senators in the 46-person body and 17 women in the 124-member House, women make up 10 percent of the S.C. General Assembly.
On the Net
Learn more about the S.C. Gubernatorial Appointments Project Online at scelectswomen.com
Originally posted in Bluffton Today
By: Sarita Chourey