Even though Belinda Davis lost the election for an open school board seat last year, her difficult decision to run for public office means she made it further than most women, who research shows are less likely than men to consider political careers.
When an opportunity arose this year to join one of Louisiana’s first and only organizations training women to run for office, she took it, as Business Report details in its new feature on the push to get more women involved in Democratic politics.
As one of 25 women in the inaugural Emerge Louisiana class, Davis joins a formidable group of professional Democratic women—including lawyers, engineers, doctors and educators—throughout the state being recruited and groomed for public office.
Emerge Louisiana—an offshoot of Emerge America—is zeroing in on the 2019 state legislative elections, not only because women are vastly underrepresented in both chambers, but also because at least 50 seats will be open next year as term-limited state lawmakers make their exit.
Established last year, Emerge Louisiana, chose 25 women out of 60 who applied for its first six-month training program. The goal is to get more women involved in politics, and in doing so, the organization hopes to transform a state, and nation, it sees as moving in the wrong direction.
“It speaks to the energy here—women are fed up with what’s going on in Baton Rouge and D.C.,” says Emerge Louisiana Executive Director Melanie Oubre. “They know they can do a better job themselves and are ready to prove that.”
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