ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Recent gains by women in the General Assembly could be reversed if five female lawmakers decide to leave.
Two women say they are retiring from the General Assembly and three others are considering quitting, a development that could reverse recent female gains in one of the nation's most male-dominated legislatures.
The potential mass exodus of female legislators worries groups that promote more political involvement by women.
``Unless a concerted effort is made, we might fall back to where we were prior to 1995,'' said Claudia Salomon of Richmond, president of Make Women Count, which works to get female candidates elected in Virginia.
Virginia ranked 46th in female representation in the General Assembly until 1995, when five women won seats formerly held by men. The state now ranks 40th.
Twenty-one of Virginia's 140 legislators, or 15 percent, are women. The national average is 21.5 percent.
Dels. Jean Cunningham of Richmond and Julia Connally of Arlington already have announced they will not seek re-election. Dels. Gladys Keating of Fairfax County, Mary Christian of Hampton and Flora Crittenden of Newport News also are considering retirement. All are Democrats.
Debbie Walsh, acting director of the Center for the American Woman in Politics at Rutgers University in Camden, N.J., said the retirement of so many female legislators at one time would be rare.
``The implications of that kind of turnover are big because you're working with such a small number of women in the first place,'' Walsh said.
She said legislatures need a strong female presence because women ``bring a different set of life experiences and priorities that, from our perspective, enriches the process.''
Walsh said the center's studies have shown that females are more likely to focus on education, health, the elderly and women's-rights issues, while men tend to stress business and financial policies.
Salomon agreed that women bring an important perspective to lawmaking and said her organization will redouble its efforts to make sure that view is not diminished.
Make Women Count, a bipartisan organization governed by an all-female, 18-member board of directors, hopes to raise $75,000 to contribute to female candidates in this year's elections, Salomon said.
``I'm not sure there are enough women waiting in the wings,'' said Keating, who heads the assembly's women's caucus. ``I'm very upset about the fact that we might lose women.''
Walsh said she could not pinpoint why more women have not been elected to the Virginia legislature, but females generally fare poorly in conservative states.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB