Ed. As the election comes close, I thought this tidbit on sexism might provoke thought.
I just realized that with Gregoire’s retirement, Washington may have all men in the statewide elected offices. That would be a real shame.
And nothing against men; I am one. It’s just that top to bottom the elected executive branch could better reflect the state. We’re certainly willing to elect women statewide as evidenced by our current governor, US Senators and some State Supreme Court justices.
I’m not arguing for a quota system here, or saying you have to vote for the woman for any position. We should evaluate the candidates based on how well we think they’ll do in office. Certainly if Pam Roach jumps into any race for any executive position, you should vote against her. I’ve heard rumors that Lisa Brown is or was thinking about running, but I’d rather have Inslee than her.
So, I don’t know if the parties aren’t recruiting women, or if possible women candidates haven’t stepped up enough. But it would be a sad state of affairs if in 2012, we couldn’t elect a single woman to an executive position.