Women in politics

In a matter of weeks, its anniversary will come and go and, for most women, indeed, most Americans, little will be said or heard about it despite the fact that what will be marked affected half of the country’s population. On Aug. 26, 1920, America celebrates the 90th anniversary of the day women gained the right to vote.

All the work of Susan B. Anthony and sister suffragettes across the country paid off with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This historic accomplishment occurred fourteen years after Finland had set the tone, allowing women not only to vote but also run for public office.

The vote on this epic legislation, though, was anything but a slam dunk. The Senate approved it by a 56-25 margin. In the House, nearly a quarter of its members refused to be pulled into the 20th century voting 304-90 to keep women out of the political process. But today, while many Americans may have little idea of what the 19th Amendment is, nearly everyone takes for granted that women are a natural part of the political landscape.

“My aunt Irene, who is 96, still recalls when women first got the vote,” said Amber Tafoya, a Denver attorney running for the Colorado House of Representatives. “I think it is terrific that in 90 years we’ve moved from fighting for the right to vote,” said Tafoya, “to now running for office at every level.”

Nearly a quarter of a century before approval of the 19th Amendment, Colorado followed Wyoming and became the nation’s second state allowing women the right to vote. In 1893, it also elected its first three members to the state legislature. A full 77 years passed before Betty Benavidez was elected as the first Latina in 1970. She ...