The 2012 Project

Research has shown that women tend to wait longer to run for political office and are recruited less often than men by major political parties.[12] Women, in general, are less likely to self-nominate; they often do not run for political office unless asked to do so.[13] The aim of The 2012 Project is to ask women over the age of 45 from various industries, such as finance, small business and science, to consider running for office.[14]

Every decade, census data is used to redraw congressional and state legislative districts to ensure that constituents are equally represented under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[1] Redistricting results in higher numbers of new and open seats across the country. Research has shown that women have a greater success in districts with open seats, particularly when organizations identify and recruit women to run for office.[15] CAWP research has shown that women, like men, who run against incumbents are rarely successful.[16] When women challenged incumbents, one out of 37 challengers was successful in 1990, two of 41 challengers in 1992, and three of 52 challengers in 1994.[16] When women ran for open seats in the same election years, three of eight women won in 1990, 22 of 39 women in 1992, and eight of 16 women in 1994.[16] As of December 21, 2010, Election Data Services projects that 18 states will see changes in the sizes of their congressional delegations in the 2012 elections.[17] Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are expected to lose one seat while New York and Ohio are expected to lose two seats.[18] Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington are expected to gain one seat, while Florida is expected to gain two seats, and Texas is expected to gain four seats.[18]

Study shows although women's opportunities for elective office have significant progress, women remain far from reaching parity with men in elective office. [19]

The 2012 Project works has created a faculty of former elected women across the country to reach out to educate women, particularly those from occupations underrepresented in government, about the political opportunities available. They attend conferences and meetings of various organizations to encourage women who have already succeeded in other professional arenas to enter the political sphere. However, the 2012 Project does not run the campaigns for these women. The 2012 Project identifies women who are interested in becoming candidates and links them to training programs, think tanks and political parties in their states. The campaign also reaches women online via webinars and social media.[20]

The 2012 Project has three groups of supporters: allies, faculty and funders. Allies are women's organizations or progressive organizations that are interested in promoting equal representation in government. Examples of allies include Democracy for America; Emerge America; EMILY'S List; MANA, A National Latina Organization; the National Congress of Black Women; the National Republican Women's Network; the Republican Majority for Choice; the Veterans Campaign; and The White House Project.[21] Allies support the campaign by disseminating information to their membership about the aims of the 2012 Project and by allowing it to present at annual conferences or summits organized by these groups. The 2012 Project has presented at conferences such as MacWorld 2011, Vision 2020 as well as groups such as the Executive Women of the State Department in Washington, D.C., the American Geophysical Union, the Women's Council of Realtors, Rachel's Network, and the American Medical Women's Association.[22] Faculty are former elected officials who support the project by appearing at events to educate women about the challenges and rewards of running for political office.[21] Funders are individuals and organizations who have contributed financially to the Project as it expands nationally.[23]