One day since American voters handed Democrats control of both the House and the Senate, Angela Priestley speaks with Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of Vote Mama, the organisation that backs Democratic mums running for office at every level, from local school boards to the US Senate.
Vote Mama endorsed more than 200 candidates this cycle. As of this week, 180 of them have won, a 95 per cent strike rate, up from 70 per cent in 2024. Among them: pediatrician Annie Andrews, who flipped South Carolina’s Senate seat against Lindsey Graham’s sister; Peggy Flanagan, who will be the first Indigenous woman in the US Senate; and Denise Powell, who flipped a House seat in Nebraska.
Vote Mama candidates also helped flip state legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Liuba founded Vote Mama after her own 2018 run for Congress, where she won the right to use campaign funds for childcare.
In this conversation, she unpacks what happened on Tuesday night, why mothers running openly on their lived experience are now winning in places they never have before, what the Republican side is blaming for the rout, which races her candidates lost and why, and what Australian women thinking about running for office can take from it.
The Women's Agenda Podcast is produced by the 100% female-owned and run Agenda Media. Get out free daily news update here.
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