Women make up just a third of political donations in Tennessee
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Women are not only underrepresented as political candidates in Tennessee and across the country, but they're also underrepresented as donors.
Driving the news: Donations from women in Tennessee made up just 33% of total contributions to general election candidates in 2022 statewide and in state legislative races.
- That's according to a new report on the "donor gap" from Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics using data from OpenSecrets.
Why it matters: While women are registered to vote at higher rates than men, they remain disproportionately absent from the halls of political power — and from the political donations that fuel those halls.
By the numbers: Just 15% of the 132 Tennessee state legislators are women, the center reports — less than half the national average of 33%.
- Women make up none of the state's executive officers and just two of its 11 representatives in D.C. — Republicans U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger.
- That's even though 51% of the Tennessee population is female.
Of note: Public Service Commissioner Sara P. Kyle in the '90s was the last woman to hold state executive office and is now a state senator.
What's happening: The underrepresentations of women candidates and donors are entwined, Kira Sanbonmatsu, a Rutgers political science professor and the report's lead researcher, tells Axios.
- "We're not able to disentangle which comes first. ... It's a mutually reinforcing relationship," she says.
- It also is inextricable from a persistent gender wealth gap, she says.
The big picture: Tennessee's donor gap tracks with the national numbers, which show women donors made up just 29% to 33% of the general election contributions at statewide and state legislative levels between 2019 and 2022.
Yes, but: Once they run, women candidates are strong fundraisers, the report outlines.
- 51% of the top Republican fundraisers and 52% of the top Democratic fundraisers in statehouse races between 2019 and 2022 were women.
Zoom in: Female donors on both sides of the aisle disproportionately support women candidates, according to the report.
Be smart: Blackburn's re-election bid next year could set up the state's highest-profile head-to-head election between two women yet.
- Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson is challenging the incumbent.
- Johnson is competing in the Democratic primary against Memphis-based activist Marquita Bradshaw, who ran against Sen. Bill Hagerty in 2020.
What we're watching: There's a "need for some new strategies and new mobilization ideas" to rectify the gender gap, Sanbonmatsu says.
- That includes trying to activate new donors and untapped sources of candidate funding support.
- "Women are voting," she says. "They're interested in politics. They're engaged. They maybe haven't been recruited yet in this capacity."