Louisiana’s senate race is coming to a close finish as Democratic candidate Mary Landrieu and Republican candidate Bill Cassidy face off in a last-minute dash for undecided and minority voters.
The senate stands at a ratio of 80 men to 20 women, and Landrieu’s win or defeat will affect the proportion of women with seats.
The race between Cassidy and Landrieu is expected to go in a run-off Nov. 4 with neither candidate at the required 50 percent votes needed to win in the polls.
Landrieu, who has held the Louisiana senate seat since 1996, has based her campaign on making sure President Barack Obama keeps his word on implementing the Affordable Care Act.
Alternatively, Cassidy has based his campaign against the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), and promises to vote for repealing the act.
Landrieu faces a different set of struggles as a woman candidate than male candidates.
According to political science professor Dr. Scott Huffmon, women have a harder time running for public office than men.
“Whenever they’re running for public office, women get a very different kind of scrutiny,” Huffmon said. “We still have the phenomenon where a man wearing a gray suit absolutely makes no news but a woman wearing a pant suit of a color the writer doesn’t like may make news.”
Landrieu must change views toward her leadership role into a positive light in order to seal votes amongst citizens who lean negatively toward women in leadership positions.
“Women in powerful positions tend to be accused of being, I think the new modern term people are going with, is bossy. Whereas for men it’s seen as a leadership plus. So women face an entirely different set of standards for what it means to be a good leader, and it’s tough,” Huffmon said.
In a forum for women in senate, American Party candidate Jill Bossi running for South Carolina said, “Women have to learn to be bolder, they have to learn to be bossy, they have to learn to be confident in their skills and abilities, and when the opportunity comes, they have to be willing to stand up and say ‘I’ll do it.’”
Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson said that running for senate in a “good old boys’ system” has been a challenge.
According to Huffmon, Landrieu has used her leadership role in the past as a selling point. Particularly in reference to natural disasters, such as Katrina, Landrieu points out her past in the senate as a plus, stating that she has experience.
Landrieu has said that being a woman running for senate in the south has been even harder.
Landrieu said in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, “The south has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans, it’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader. It’s not always been a good place for women to be able to present ourselves. It’s more of a conservative place. So we’ve had to work a little bit harder on that.”
Landrieu faces a different set of struggles as a woman candidate than male candidates.
According to political science professor Dr. Scott Huffmon, women have a harder time running for public office than men.
“Whenever they’re running for public office, women get a very different kind of scrutiny,” Huffmon said. “We still have the phenomenon where a man wearing a gray suit absolutely makes no news but a woman wearing a pant suit of a color the writer doesn’t like may make news.”
Landrieu must change views toward her leadership role into a positive light in order to seal votes amongst citizens who lean negatively toward women in leadership positions.
“Women in powerful positions tend to be accused of being, I think the new modern term people are going with, is bossy. Whereas for men it’s seen as a leadership plus. So women face an entirely different set of standards for what it means to be a good leader, and it’s tough,” Huffmon said.
In a forum for women in senate, American Party candidate Jill Bossi running for South Carolina said, “Women have to learn to be bolder, they have to learn to be bossy, they have to learn to be confident in their skills and abilities, and when the opportunity comes, they have to be willing to stand up and say ‘I’ll do it.’”
Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson said that running for senate in a “good old boys’ system” has been a challenge.
According to Huffmon, Landrieu has used her leadership role in the past as a selling point. Particularly in reference to natural disasters, such as Katrina, Landrieu points out her past in the senate as a plus, stating that she has experience.
Landrieu has said that being a woman running for senate in the south has been even harder.
Landrieu said in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, “The south has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans, it’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader. It’s not always been a good place for women to be able to present ourselves. It’s more of a conservative place. So we’ve had to work a little bit harder on that.”
