A Woman’s Place Is in Office

By Nicholas Leingang
Contributing Writer

[Editor’s Note: We would be remiss if we did not mention that new leadership moving in the right direction. Therefore, we decided to feature some of your new women leaders in local politics that have been elected this week. We applaud the voters that recognize the importance of women in politics and the need for equal representation reflected in our leaders.]

We have a political picnic in Bismarck every year. And I get a phone call saying, ‘Treasurer, we really want you to be there. We want to make sure all the elected officials are there… Do you think you could bring coleslaw?’ And I don’t publically respond, but I’m thinking – Did you ask the Governor to bring coleslaw? Did you ask the Attorney General to bring coleslaw? - Kelly Schmidt, North Dakota State Treasurer

The presence of women in center-stage American politics is almost embarrassing when compared to other similarly industrialized nations such as Canada, Ireland, and Switzerland. Within the states, women comprise anywhere from 10% to 37% of their respective state legislatures.

North Dakota is ranked an abysmal 43rd in the nation in female participation in the legislative assembly. Although the United States as a whole has made steady advancement toward gender equality in the last thirty years, the same cannot be said about North Dakota. Women in North Dakota politics continue to face adversity—since the late 1970s, little progress has been made toward equality of representation, and the few who do serve are uniformly met with slander, sexual advances, and double standards.

Although organizations such as the North Dakota Women’s Network, the League of Women Voters, and the Commission on the Status of Women are at work to combat this rampant sexism, North Dakota’s traditional ideals and unique culture still ultimately impede women’s progress.

In the late 1800s, the future of the political woman in North Dakota looked bright. Laura J. Eisenhuth was the first woman in America to be elected statewide, and after serving a year as Superintendent of Public Instruction, the citizens of North Dakota once again elected a woman, Emma B. Bates, to fill the position.

However, the start of the 20th century brought no increase in female representation -– in fact, no women served in any statewide elected offices again until 1919. Throughout the rest of the century, a total of eleven women occupied an executive office, most commonly in the posts of Superintendent or State Treasurer. No woman has ever been elected Governor, Secretary of State, or Insurance Commissioner. Currently, there is only one woman serving as a statewide elected official -– Kelly Schmidt, who is State Treasurer.

From the first election of two female legislators in 1923 until 1969 (the year some deemed as the next “era” of female politicians in North Dakota), twenty women served in the Legislative Assembly, with eleven women serving only one term. During this 46-year period, the highest number of female representatives was five in 1967; only in 1935 were there no female representatives. Fourteen out of the twenty who served during the period were the lone female in their respective chamber.

Then, from 1971 to 1979, North Dakota witnessed the greatest increase in female representation, rocketing from five to twenty. After a slight dip in the early 1980s, the numbers continued to rise until the 1989 legislature, in which twenty-four women served. From that point to present day, there has been little deviation from the mean of approximately twenty-four women serving in the Legislative Assembly.

It is peculiar that from 1989 to 2009, a period that brought great political advancement for women nationwide, the number of female politicians in North Dakota has remained relatively static. It is also worth noting that while the state is very conservative, Democratic and Republican women are represented almost equally in the Legislative Assembly.

In addition to the Legislative Assembly and State Executives, the Board of Higher Education is also a very important political arena where women lack proper representation. The Board consists of eight members serving four-year terms and one student representative who serves a one-year term and does not vote; the Governor, under the advisement of a nominating committee, appoints all positions.

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, only two of the Board’s members were female. The end of the 1990s brought an increase in female representation on the board, which then decreased in the early 2000s. Although in 2005 women were a majority force on the Board of Higher Education, Governor John Hoeven’s recent appointments have decreased female representation to only two members.

In North Dakota’s 120 years of statehood, only one woman has served as a United States legislator. Jocelyn Birch Burdick, a democrat from Fargo, filled the position for three months after the death of her husband, Senator Quentin Burdick. She spoke on the Senate floor only one time -– to say goodbye to her colleagues in October of 1992.

As is apparent, women are greatly underrepresented in North Dakota politics. It is doubly unacceptable, then, that the few who do serve are consistently met with sexism. Kirsten Baesler, School Board President for the town of Mandan, recognizes this. “The first five minutes of every meeting every day of my life is critical because there’s always going to be someone there who judges me based on my gender.”

This discrimination typically manifests itself in four ways: condescension, reluctance to elect or appoint mothers, dichotomization of too weak or too aggressive, and sexual harassment.

According to Baesler, women are assumed to not know as much as men do when it comes to public service. “When a man walks through the door, they’re going to assume he knows a lot and he’s going to have to prove otherwise. When a woman walks in the door, they’re going to assume she probably knows nothing and she’s going to have to prove otherwise.”

Although federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of motherhood or pregnancy, many electors are wary of choosing a mother because they feel she won’t be able to adequately perform the duties of public office in addition to raising a family. Sandy Tibke, a City Commissioner for Mandan and a mother of four, had a “very direct experience” with this.

While Interim Executive Director of the Democratic Party of North Dakota, Tibke was forwarded an email that said that Tibke was a “woman and mother” and that because “the job is 24/7, [she] shouldn’t be in that position.”

This seeming incompatibility of motherhood and public service are not new to Baesler, either. After being elected to the School Board in 2004, a principal said to one of his colleagues, “She won’t last long. She won’t have what it takes to put in the hours and raise a family.” Baesler said that she is often doubted because she has children.

“No one really steps back and says, ‘I wonder if we should because he’s got three kids’” said Baesler. “And they do that with women. They say, ‘Ah, she’d be really good, but…’ There’s always a ‘but’ because she’s got three kids.”

Indeed, the attitudes effected by parenthood more directly impact women -– in the 2000 gubernatorial race, democratic contender Heidi Heitkamp was frequently questioned about supporting her children while in office. Her opponent, current Governor John Hoeven, was spared these questions even though his children are the same ages.

Yet another problem women must face in the political arena is the assumption that they’re either too aggressive or too weak. It’s hard to find a middle ground, as Baesler said, because women have to first battle the preconception that they’re inexperienced or incapable.
“Once we got over the hurdle of, ‘Okay, she is strong and she does know what she’s talking about,’ then I became a bitch that was trying to take control of too many areas,” said Baesler.

Schmidt also struggles with this –- as the only woman in an all-male administration, she frequently encounters situations where a man would be respected but a woman is derided: “There is a fine line between being assertive and being a bitch. We deal with that every day. I just want to make them [her male coworkers] aware of what they’re doing without getting in their face.”

Perhaps most expectedly (and most unfortunately), female politicians in North Dakota are frequently sexually harassed. Sandy Tibke recalled her initial experiences on the City Commission.

“They see you as their foe or their friend… and after time, when you reject advances over and over again, it just stops eventually because it gets around amongst the male community that you’re not interested,” said Tibke.

The scarcity of female politicians in North Dakota is alarming -– why, in a state that initially welcomed female participation in the political arena, are so few women being elected or appointed? And why are the few female politicians met with rampant sexism? The answer is in North Dakota’s unique construction.

North Dakota is consistently one of the most conservative states in the nation. However, though North Dakota is a very conservative state, women still tend to be Democrats rather than Republicans. While it may be easier for women to win the nomination in the Democratic Party, it’s very hard for them to actually be elected. For Republican women, however, winning the nomination is harder because there are more people vying for the nomination, but being elected is easier.

Complementing North Dakota’s tradition of conservatism is the state’s largely Christian constituency: 86% of North Dakotans declare themselves as some form of Christian, with Lutheranism and Catholicism the leading two denominations. Although not all Christian churches promote sexism, it is generally true that most branches of Christianity uphold stereotypical gender roles.

This Christian conservatism does not lend itself to the advancement of women. The very women who are most likely to succeed -– republican Christians – are in fact the least likely to run because of their beliefs. These women uphold gender ideals of getting married and being a stay-at-home mom instead of pursuing a career in politics.

Compared to other states, North Dakota has a unique view of “traditional” gender roles. While most states (North Dakota included) usually cast School Board President or member of the Health and Human Services Committee as a “woman’s role,” North Dakota also includes positions such as State Treasurer and Tax Commissioner.

The agriculture-based society that still thrives in North Dakota is accustomed to seeing a woman “keep the books” and “manage the finances” in addition to cooking, cleaning, and raising children while her husband operates the farm.

Although it would seem important for Governor Hoeven to promote equality in a state that so desperately needs it, he has consistently neglected this responsibility.

The North Dakota Women’s Network authored an open letter to Hoeven, reminding him that since 2005, the Commission on the Status of Women “has not had full appointment and has not received any funding to support its statutory requirement to serve as an advisory group on women’s economics needs.”

Similarly, Clarice Liechty, a former nominee for the Board of Higher Education, wrote an editorial for the Bismarck Tribune exposing Hoeven’s disregard for equality. After Hoeven consecutively appointed two men to an already male-dominated Board, Liechty urged the appointment of a woman to ensure fairness. Hoeven eventually appointed another male, even though Liechty was a qualified and active participant in the Republican party for 35-plus years. If no women are appointed to the Board in the next two years, it will be entirely men.

The faltering activity of the Commission on the Status of Women is indicative of the struggle of most women’s organizations in the state. Chronically underfunded and understaffed, women’s organizations fail to find active participants who care enough about the issues to pay membership dues, attend meetings, and get involved in the community.

The Bismarck-Mandan League of Women Voters, for example, would presumably have no problem finding members in a community of 85,000-plus people. Their roster, however, boasts only 25 names, and the League struggles to find directors -– currently, members are assigned the responsibility because no one willingly steps forward to assume the title.

This is not to say that they do not do great work, however -– recently, the League hosted a candidate forum for City Commission, School Board, Park Board, and mayoral elections.

Although North Dakota women face many challenges brought on by the state’s unique culture, women are also faced with the same challenges that face American women in general.

Heidi Heitkamp, the first female contender for North Dakota Governor, speaks statewide and nationally about the involvement of women in politics. In her lecture, she claims that women are inhibited from serving in three ways. The largest reason is family: many women in North Dakota don’t feel they could balance a trip to Bismarck and still be a good mother. Next, women self-select because they don’t feel qualified. They haven’t been told, “This is the legislature; this is something you can do.” Lastly, women don’t think they can handle being a “politician.” Baesler, Stromme, Tibke, and Schmidt all mentioned similar ideas to Heitkamp’s –- women need to be asked to run. Someone needs to say, “You have the ability to do this.”

As State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt said, the lack of equality in North Dakota is apparent in “the mindset of the coleslaw.” Women in public service are expected to be as prepared, assertive, and dedicated as their male counterparts, but are also expected to be the cooks, mothers, housekeepers, and educators.

Until the governor and attorney general (and not their wives) are also expected to contribute a pan of scotcheroo bars and a salad, women will not be afforded equality.

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