[inaudible conversations] hello everyone.

thanks for joining us today by an executive vice president of external affairs here at the center for american progress and i'm thrilled you're here with us today. whitman of all races make up 18-point 5% of the united states congress. women of color makeup and abysmal 4.5% of congress. these numbers exist in direct contradiction to the fact that women make up half of the population and are more likely to vote than the male counterparts. we will hear about the reflected democracy campaign's new research which shows the persistent upward -- under representation of women and women of color throughout the country at all levels of government. over the summer the reflective democracy campaign finished to the unprecedented new database

of 42,000 elected officials throughout the country this survey showed the great disparity engender race and ethnicity between our elected lawmakers in those whom they represent i would think donna hall with the reflective democracy campaign to bring their new research to share. [applause] at the center for american progress we believe growing diversity is an asset and it is strengthened when elected officials actually reflect the constituencies they deserve. evidence suggests there is much to be gained from encouraging a greater number of women and women of color to run for office as well

including the one we will discuss today continuing to suggest with more reflective lawmakers produce more aggressive policy of comes. a new starting point for unnecessary a discussion from the midterm election but for 2016 and beyond how can we understand the address in reverse the chronic underrepresentation of women and people of color in politics? here to address these issues is the keynote speaker donner at -- donna edwards representing the fourth district and was sworn in june 2008 becoming the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress.

stunning and sparkling the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress enjoying a diverse career with the national network to end domestic violence that was signed into law. since being sworn in with those accomplishments to improve the lives of working families around the country. the first act was to add maryland to ensure access to after-school used to go opprobriums to schools located in low-income areas. congresswoman edwards held insurance companies accountable for unjustifiable rate increases also to extend research and

development domestic manufacturing infrastructure spending to create jobs and growing the economy and also the first member of the house to introduce a of a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united decision rica not be more honored to have her here today to share our perspective on this issue. please join me to welcome congressman john edwards. [applause] -- congresswoman donna edwards. >> i am so delighted to be here at my favorite organization. i cannot tell you what it means to make sure those policy makers really have the right stuff to do that job. i cannot say enough about the women donors network i

first came to know them many years ago with my time in philanthropy. including the of peter and then over the years i appreciate your of leadership. what a better time with that leadership development an effective democracy it is the same thing. and in fact, the story of what and means to have reflected democracy. i was stunned as well. when i won the election in 2008 were the first african-american woman to represent maryland i denied

it said that cannot possibly be true how could that be true in a state as the centerpiece for harriet tubman and sojourn nurturers that that could be possible i am the first african-american woman to represent merriment in congress? the we have to ask ourselves because increasingly around the world we come in on the low end to leadership that reflects our population of one to talk about what that means. i am on the political side their recruitment chair during this cycle of the top tier candidates the majority of them were women it isn't an accident when you have women around the table

hoping the conversation that you will come out but frankly it is not enough. it is true with this congress we have a majority of democrats in the house that is more representative than it has never been. to take a look at the aggregate of african-americans in congress and of lgbt that we are more of a majority minority with the house of representatives of the democratic side. that is not the whole congress or congress that large but to have representatives any level to reflect the population in

communities we serve it should not be an accident or a surprise that the act of congress was to add maryland to the after-school program because of my experience as a mom to put food on the table to make sure when my son went to school but on that experience along with to so many in my congressional district that led me to do that it is reflective democracy and it should not be a surprise as the chair of the democratic women in the house and a co-chair of the bipartisan women's caucus equal pay for equal work for minimum wage to make sure we have at

least one day of paid sick leave to focus on things like child-care to provide access quality affordable child care. we will talk about that because two-thirds of america's workers who work for minimum wage are women for women of color so makes a difference if that becomes a priority that is reflective democracy think about equal pay for equal work just yesterday 400 women largely african-american women to talk about equal pay for equal work the overwhelming majority are not working any more and their retired most live on a small pension they were fortunate enough to receive almost exclusively

on social security but what about the fact we have equal pay for equal work that is the front and center of the policy agenda? what that means is they into their retirement years losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of the end, unable to contribute to their own retirement because they did not make this same amount were the same education to reflect those experiences to contribute to the policy discussion i had an experience raising my son i was really struggling the issues of paying the mortgage and child care some people said to me there were mostly males that city should not talk about those

people don't want to hear about that then no one will want to vote for you. nothing could be farther from the truth and my ability to speak about my experiences as a single mom contributed to the conversation about why it is i should be elected those are the conversations that can come to the table with democratic representation that reflect our communities so why do i think ciao care is important? i was one of those moms paying $1 per minute every minute i was late on a fixed income it is more like $18 a day if you are stuck in traffic. i had to what i already knew to have some standard child

care and he ended up with meningitis and i almost lost him. but these issues why we engage public policy is exactly the idea of reflective democracy is all about. we cannot have this kind of democracy that all of us aspire to if our voices are not at the table. at 18-point 5% is not enough in congress of the united states to reflect the population of the majority of women who need to be serving in elected office. it is just not enough after 238 years from our country not to have of a woman at the highest level as commander in chief. 238 years too long. to only have a very small

percentage in the congress a we have to do better thinking about my african-american and sisters a small cohort but we bring a lot of different conversations even to the table with their african-american colleagues but it is not enough to say we can elect people of color into congress but it is time to elect women into congress. finally, to close by sharing this story of a little girl in her preteen years with glasses and braces and nobody was to take pictures of us in middle school. i had one of those i looked at the leaders around us

like barbara jordan and i thought i want to be like them. i've looked at my mom you worked so hard all her life to take care of sick children to grow them into responsible human beings and i marvel at that because i had enough challenges to grow one child. i think of my grandmother who struggled with she was forming with my grandfather and release struggle to put food on the table with the farm was not working she would clean houses. she never had more than a high-school education but one of the most brilliant one and you would never meet. it is about time our political leadership reflected the legacy that we have in every single family in every single household across the country.

, ending sarah had been meet today i hope i can sit in on the panel discussion and also for their research to have done with the direction that we take. the dealer got to finish won the election season going into another wherever we find ourselves it is time we're not just asking women to run but we support and get behind them when they do. and then to stand behind them when they lead. thank you very much. [applause] >> afternoon.

i have the privilege to serve as president in ceo of the benin donors network it is wonderful to have you here today it is a bit of a celebration and takes me back to the time when we first met us small delegation going to the country of chile elected the first time the first elected president in south america. may be a group of 15 of us that traveled there. she made it a campaign promise that half of her cabinet would be women when we went to see her she asked her cabinet to stand up it was remarkable for all of us to see all the women stand up. this is a follow up to the question of how do we really get women and people of color into office?

as i mentioned before i am the president and ceo of the women donors network of 200 members nationally we strive to make structural and strategic changes through catalytic can collaborative funding to working in partnership. who leads us? america was founded on the ideals of we were created equal to have a stake how the nation was governed. we may not always succeed as the history it is not enough women and citizens of all races have the right to vote every american must have equal access to lead as well. today we're here to confirm with hard data the extent of a very serious problem that our elected officials did

not truly represent the population they serve. in fact, research shows that white men maintain a powerful hold from the political representation at all levels. we have long been concerned women of color do not have of real voice we have heard this over and over again of all the work we engage. those of overlap race, gender, and class this concern is not limited to election officeholders but stems to the halls of business to the arts and large and powerful on profits and foundations. we all agree there is a growing awareness and discourse than there used to be about these patterns in

our society. the first we decided to start with the narrow focus on officeholders as a strategy to reflective democracy. today we're here to describe for the first time that we now have an open source database compiled demographic data including race and gender with 42,000 elected officials from the federal to the state to the county and large cities of 300,000 populations. what you will hear tells a story that will surprise you even more to suggest in order to have a real democracy that we cherished we must work purposefully to remove structural barriers that prevent more women and people of color from leading in america. we cannot do this alone.

we invite you to partner with us in the next two weeks we will release more data with the interactive tool to see how the state's bar with representation of women and people of color and we will also issue tool kits for taking action. in 2015 focused on working with partners with a pilot project for different solutions to results in a more reflective democracy. '01 to take a couple of seconds to a acknowledge people here today who really helped us to get us through to the stages where we are. first of all, the people at cap for hosting us today. and working with us throughout 2013 helping us with our focus to provide

overall structure of this reflected democracy where we could have done a data project if not for the great folks for wreckers university for women politics and our opinion research firm in a the communication project has partnered with us during that time and finally i would like to acknowledge jennifer to senior management does in house for us at wdn of the right to bring about our campaign director who joined us in in january with the rich history to work in electoral politics and was the perfect person to take over and i am

delighted to call you up. thank you. [applause] >> thanks. i am really lucky or maybe really of lucky to be the person who gets to present the results of the effort that was carried out by a large team of people who were here today who have been up all my getting fell website going. christ i appreciate your work. today i would like to do three things. first to do the research revealed an offer would suggest and where we may go from here but to take a look

at a short video we put together if i can operate this. >> have you ever wondered what does america look like? with the people we see in the media and to talk to every day 450 million of us live in the united states 51 percent are women 49 percent are men 63 percent are white. 37% for people of color the country is changing fast the people who represent us from city council to congress keeping up with that change to relive an effective democracy? we did some research and here is what we found we studied 42,000 electorate officials from the cameral level of to congress the

reflected america's population it should look like this but it actually looks like this. 71% are meant 90 percent are white 65 percent are white men that means they have twice as much power as women white americans have three times as much power as people of color and white men had eight times as much power. when 31 percent of the population controls 65 percent of elective offices it is not a surprise most people feel that democracy is broken but to learn more about our data visit us at to be the best in how you think we to be a more reflective democracy. [applause]

>> so just to recap looking at the county level to the national level engendered jews of office holders we found 90 percent white although only 63 percent of the population is white 70 percent are men compared 49% of the population. so this is what it would like it or truly reflective and this is what it actually the slight. white men who are 31 percent of the population holds 65 percent of elective offices constituting the veto-proof minority in the political system we have all

heard plenty of the democratic side of congress but want to take dead deeper look the when we started this research we held out hope we would discover gender balance officials at that level before the most part that hope did not become a reality with slightly lower rates than state legislatures and only 21 percent of the statewide offices and for people of color taken only be described as dismal people of color of only 7 percent of statewide offices their representation is slightly better at 15% but still less

than half of there share of the population. i spent a fair amount of time of gender and power and rarely choose to be optimistic person. [laughter] but in spite of all of that ever shocked by these numbers. a balance of power so start if we saw in another country we would conclude something was very wrong. with the political system it should apply no less than two marcel's. what is going on? what is part of the problem? the first is in the nature of political office itself opponent say there is something about running for

an holding political office that it cannot be held to the same standard for other occupations it is very unusual thing to do to attract people with a set of skills and interest we cannot really expect politicians to look like america. but it is worth noting other professions are just a specialized in a unique data reflected for office with professional baseball players can really be the case politics would be so different? in second place is to the voters in this line of thinking people of color just cannot succeed because

the bias is so strong. the research does not bear this out we know candidates succeed at the same rate as men and their research to candidates of color although slightly more complicated usually focused on specific ethnic groups because the overall sample size is so small but it points in the same direction they're just enough to show that bias in the voting booth is significant enough. the third place is the under represented people themselves is there something about women and people of color that explains that? with those variations they tend to fall into two categories the first

attributes the ambition gap. in general this line of argument holds women who you can run for office are that we just don't like the world of politics. the second line of argument shows the engagement gab people of color were women tend not to participate in politics they don't vote or participate in local political structure in this cause is under representation in elected office. bill size of the question has been raised for some time so i will just draw our attention to keep points. first women have voted at higher rates than men in every presidential election since 1986.

second black women have turned out to vote at a higher rate than any other subgroup of the last national elections. there is work to to improve the registration of lack of participation of politics is certainly not the whole story. i would argue those of us who are greeted with skepticism with ambition gaps that women just don't like math or science where they would opt out of the top-level jobs should be similar a careful to read like on the political power. it is worth noting that elected officeholders most resemble in terms of the racial and gender balance

with that exclusion of people of color. not on the voters those are excluded from political office for effective democracy campaign is focused on the system itself with recruitment and advancement with the political parties landowners contribute to the lopsided numbers. added that composition from demographics over others with that civic institution who has access to relationships and money and network to leverage a career? this to be no surprise the political system like so

many others reproduces and reinforces hierarchy's to organizational copped it is creating a democracy that is far from reflective. but there is good news also coming from voters themselves at the same time we amass the database we undertook a of a comprehensive public opinion research project to understand to what extent americans first see this problem and whether or not they care. as part of that multiphase research project resurveyed 800 voters nationwide by phone. every field three key findings. americans understand there is a problem with the

demographics of the political leader a majority of the voters are concerned about the lack of women of people of color and perhaps even more most best describe the current representative is the old boys' club. however most think the best and the brightest is to the leaders should be. second but to do something about this problem a strong majority of voters support policies of people of color with younger voters even among white men 66 percent is from people of color. it was the most surprising

in a way it is a significant cause of the problem. in what women face a majority of voters with the systemic barriers and to recruit women of color so over and above whatever bias it mayor may not bring to the voting booth it may or may not to pursue elected office americans recognize our system of recruitment and support is structured in a way that favors white men. we believe this is where we

need to dedicate our efforts to change these numbers with the truly reflective democracy. to bring in a new level of transparency this is the first time to have a comprehensive baseline that means we can measure how fast we're making progress we make the data publicly available on our website and later this month we will release a national representation index that will rank states that the reflective leaders reflect their population with a foreword to advocates people of all kinds and we hope using it to. a change. [applause]

>> thank you for being here today. i know we have a lot to talk about new and to go over so i will introduce the panel branded is the campaign director for the democracy campaign at the wdn and was at the eeoc in her past life and led a drive among her fellow assistants at yale university and in addition teaches on work culture and the economy at the

university. gloria is the president of the grass-roots majority of national multi issue accreditation for the grass-roots champions of the state and local level she created the majority in 2001 under her leadership has no state offices also the racial justice campaign program to privatize the election of candidates of color prior to this the political director in 1996 through 2001 were she developed the first nationwide pro choice voter file and has worked on campaigns especially in the home state of minnesota. our next guest is an associate professor of history director of african studies institute in connecticut it he wanted to be short on his bio so it is too interesting so i will

keep going with the washington peace -- the "washington post" and the "daily beast" the author of will to all books one was a finalist with the book with the antidote to revolution in the struggle for civil rights and i have been asked to mention the twitter #who leads us. i will actually start with you gloria. brenda l. they doubt a challenge for all of us with the critique of observation to change. i hope to talk first is

there so dramatic but yet concrete the effects that we have to pay? >> so centuries of oppression in. [laughter] that might be the obvious reason for trout in all seriousness if you are a person of color there is a reality and the fact there is a ripple effect that plays into that data that is the fact i have a list of reasons such a have access

but it is a business that you win by coming out of the black. and to keep your people home and if i'm lucky i keep you off the ballot in the first place. that is the overall environment and that is how we succeed so we have a system of democracy the winner-take-all system and how it excludes people. so two-stage test system there is research that shows they tend to be more positive campaign environment to have one man or one woman to put people on the ticket within

evidence people of color don't do as well to push people of color out there is some evidence so we have seen this in a lot of localities the use this to elect people with people of color getting elected. we need to change who is in the systems who was in the state party leadership? the caucus is the perfect example that make this a

priority. >> you wrote so beautifully this summer what was going on after the shooting death of michael brown. so what way talk about today. the talk about the microcosm so how does that play out? >> thanks for inviting me. becoming apparent after spending nine days since ferguson an august 1 thing that was immediately apparent was so much more than michael brown.

but to be predictable to be necessary from the playoff game last night to those who talk about michael braun north protesting the likelihood of justice to go back to africa from the baseball stadium. but that connotation thinking of the allied air. eric is of a throwback to think the endear times last week the number of pounds in small cities they are used as a propeller but we see

this happening in lots of other places. to organize a their publicized with the off-year election or not. . . these are things that are not kind of accidentally detrimental to the political participation and people of

color. we still have the struggles ahead of us. but it also is just simply the reality. >> is it then that -- do we need to change attitudes first and the structural change, or do we have to go directly to changing structures and have attitudes change afterwards? i guess that's a question for all of you. >> i would go as is structures and change the structure. i mean, i think that the polling -- these things are always a little hard to read because people do say what they think that you want them to year, particularly when it comes to race the many polling on race matters . but i would say, you know, culturally we are very. the new american majority, you know, the tolerance and the attitudes of the millenniums to miami, we are so far behind. we have a saying in our office. don't recruit people you will have to lobby later. it is moving, and we need to

structure catch up. >> one of the things that i learned as a human organizer is that in general the loss follows the organizing. it does not work the other way around. so i think it points to the necessity for mobilization as the public demand for change. and, as you said, this is not an accident. the people control the structure will change the structure when they feel that they have no other choice. and what do we learned from examples of cities close where, in fact, the power structure is very different. a town, country club hills right nearby, same demographic of a completely different. >> right. and both of these municipalities are kind of right on the council said lewis and so close that you can leave st. louis and enter one of them without even knowing necessarily the u.s. left the city of

st. louis. well i was there i got into conversations with elected leaders from small towns, small municipalities called country club hills which just a few years ago they had a police force that was entirely white and the black population that was about 70 or 80 percent black. and it was -- you know, the mayor, that turned back -- the current mayor told me of the record that he had the experience of being swept up by police and that is what led him to want to run for mayor and political office. and so in a concerted way they set out to change the demographics of the police apartment. and so when i talked to the police chief there he said that he went to high school and encouraged gen people to go to the police academy. he went to the graduation from the police academy and found people who were about to graduate in did not have a police department. well, consider working for

us. and then we went to other municipalities and said we would be interested in having you as standout. have to think about working here. and now the police department is about half people of color and have white. and both the mayor and the police chief talked about the way in which this and at least facilitated a better understanding with the community. now, that's the positive side of it. the other side of it is that i am in new yorker and know that there was a black officer involved in the shooting of john bell for in 2006, the african-american man who was on the verge of his -- the night before his wedding and was shot, some 50 something bullets were shot. killed him, and injured one of his friends greatly. they were unarmed. there was an african-american officer present, you know, during

this. and there have been other instances, african-american officers are officers of color. i don't think it's simply a dermal change where everything falls into place. not recruiting people you have to later lobby. you also have to have structural changes to say that we actually believe that there is a limit on police authority. the police are not the law. there are some distinctions that we don't -- that we somehow lost track of. the last a.m. will say is in ferguson i did see when people began teargas income before they began tear gas in the first night protesters, there were a smattering of black officers who were there. and several of them had covered their faces with, you know, bandannas are stars. some people said they did this because they lived in the communities and are going to have to face, you

know, criticism for what they were doing. the other side of it was much more ominous. these are people who would cover their faces because they were about to do something that they knew exceeded the browns of what proper police baby should be and these were two black men . >> are really striking, striking detail that you were able to be there and see that. i am also struck in listening to you that we're talking about structural change but at the same time that happens on a personal level. happens through people changing institutions from within, sometimes in a very 1-1-1 way. you said coming into this that you were willing to tell tale and really get up close and personal in describing some of what you have seen in practice within institutions. ostensibly well moving people, practices that end up keeping them women and people of color. >> you know, in order to be

perceived as a viable candidate you have to, you know, have your own personal network, you have tac have or be part of or be accepted into a broader political network. you have to have access to donors. there's all this work the i am a progressive. when an organization called progress of minority. we recruit people to run for office. our biggest fights have been over candid it's a color and women and women of color obviously. and we started the racial justice campaign to prioritize, not marginalized , the recruitment of people of color and making it a priority within our organization from the beginning. and, you know, progressives are often our first problem. i would say to a candid it, if you are relatively new you're going to have to get

through our advisory council, then the, you know, then progressive community, then the democratic party commanded we can start talking about republicans. but you have to get through these hurdles first. you know, we have often -- and our advisory councils and our states are comprised of some of the most talented and romney political people across the nation. so these are really well-meaning folks. but the progressive movement just like the broader political movement is mostly led by white people. and mostly white men. probably looks a lot like that. and so, you know, we will bring someone in. never heard of him. well, that's not surprising. that is why i am introducing him to you. picking keep going from there. and it is not at all -- they

are not, you know, with in this orbit, we have had to do a lot of convincing, even within our own organization to get people across. and it has gone so far -- the favre story like to tell because the staff person, we had a fight that escalated very highly in one of our states. one of our staff people called and said, gloria, i can't do this. of all white guy. and not used to fighting over race. i was like, that's your job. and basically what happened was we recruited and native american woman to run, very talented woman who had served in her states administration, quite accomplished. had her own network. recruited to run for the state senate, and it was immediately no, no, no. it is not going to work. and then the party decided

that the profile of this district -- because that is the other thing that we do you guys don't know about. before we start finding a candidate we create a profile for what the ideal candidate in this district should look like. in some people like me to decide that. it is sometimes a problem. and then so we recruited this woman. it decided, no, they needed a white man. so they found this white,. well, we kept going. our candid it was up performing on every metric. our job is to try to assert our candid as a more viable candid. this escalated. folks that cherry pick terror donor list and never

going to major donors telling them that gloria is prioritizing race or viability. and i was literally had to fly out. i state director was doing all the work to become the political front. ahead to meet with other donors on by one and say you have known me for two and a half seconds. i fired my mother and my best friend of a lifetime. i do not prioritized anything over viability. and so -- >> at think that's amenable. >> that's my story. >> what kind of changes to we need within our institution check to we have to take some radical steps? >> a couple of things. and not so radical step, we changed our criteria for who

could be on guard advisory council. making itself more diverse. we have the political director, had to represent some political entity. some community leaders, clergy leaders, people that open up access to a more diverse pool of influential people who could be on the committee. so there are things that you could do like that that open the. yes. i think that we need to call it out. i mean, people were shocked that i would fly across the country and in and knock on their door and say come here is what i'm hearing. you believe in this? and as a donor to our organization and it shows a commitment to our mission camino, don't let them

believe this way because that is what it ultimately was. yet to stand up to it. it can't just be left for people of color or women to stand up to it. is going to take all of us. >> with your anecdote. , white guy, i can't do this people have to -- politicians are already in office, have to get beyond their comfort zone. wondered if you could say more about that. make this a topic of conversation for everyone. that level of distancing. discomfort on the part of white people. >> unfortunately i think the circumstances are such that these things do have a way of presenting themselves.

we would not have had to grapple with the reality of sexual harassment in the workplace and the way that we did. going back to ferguson, i think that will be a looking at there is reflective of a broader set of trans. i will talk historical for a minute. we saw in 1967 the carter commission report which said that there were kind of large-scale urban disturbances to my riots that were a product of the systematic exclusion of african-americans from opportunity. and out of that we have reforms that people considered liberal reform, people considered them to be superfluous. the supreme court effectively said that the voting rights act was discriminatory against white southerners. and the decision, and so we have debates around things like affirmative action and

whether not people of color actually belong in a position. i didn't see that. so we kind of -- the question that is implicit with and that is if you remove those circumstances, if you replicate the circumstances that existed, do you not have the same out comes? do you not produce the same kind of problems that resulted in this kind of cyclical situation? in that think that it is maybe a skeptical or pessimistic point of view, but because we have this historical amnesia we keep doing things that result in negative outcomes and saying, well, if we do this we put our hand on the fire we get burned. let's move our hand. and then five matt sutter command would be interesting to put a hand on the fire and see what happens. >> you have talked before about what people are or are not willing to think about or talk about.

one thing that people often have trouble with in america is talking about structural change. your research and get results basically in looking at that, but you have also said that it is sometimes difficult to get people there. you saw it even in the course of doing research. wonder what you have seen about people's comfort level and will ways of approaching the topic of underrepresentation they're comfortable with or not comfortable with. he touched on some of this. >> the conventional wisdom i think is that ordinary americans cannot really grasped structures. it's sort of too complicated you know, kind of arcane and we can't get into that. i think that really shortchanges most people. it is true, most people do want that to our policy briefing on the political system and the united states, but i think that there is actually far more opportunity to move people

in their thinking on this than we give them credit for i mean, it's sort of stands to reason and await that if you just look at these numbers and you are not somebody familiar with the way that the politics works, which is most people. why would they be? it's a strange kind of arcane world. if you look at those numbers and you leave it to your imagination, why they are that way, you will come up with sort of easy answers. well, maybe women just like politics. i don't know. maybe people of color don't really participate. of course, you know, we don't need to get into a fight about whether there is centered around the edges, but our experience in our research that we have briefly described here is, people get it. does not take a two-hour briefing to my dissertation. when your name specific structural barriers people say, oh, yeah. that makes sense to me.

in the level of understanding. other some people who get it more than others to back between party affiliation or men and women, you know, if you are somebody who has unexperienced structural barriers holding back are you less likely to see them? >> it is true that women and people of color sort of perceive the structural barriers more clearly or more readily, but again, not limited to those groups. so i think this is not as complicated as we like to think that it might be in terms of making people think about this differently. that think that we have all lot of room for changing the way people think about it. >> sharing some interesting thoughts in the greenroom beforehand about the parties are or are not doing right now. and to me know, some interesting observations about what the republican party is doing at the state level. at the that is worth sharing

, what you are observing right now. >> the party apparatus on both sides of the aisle is the primary candidate recruitment operations. and they tend to have a very narrow silent approach to it. so you are the recruiter. you have your database in front of you, and you're looking at when the party, you know, is the next one down to the local party chair, an anc members. and they tend to not go to outside groups. so that is something that we need to change. our group's need to be more proactive about bringing people into the party for consideration to and the parties need to be more mindful of reaching out beyond that structure. the second thing that i think is important from the party's perspective cisplatin is money. what i shared in the green room was that on the republican side, the republican state committee, the -- it's like the state

level committee for state legislative seats like the teacher paul v. is for congress. we have the equivalent on the democratic side, the dlc see, democratic campaign committee. and so the rspc -- rflc, sorry, has spent since 2010. you all know the story leading into 2010, the $40 million spent, the strategy, the massive investment in state legislative races in order to pick up nearly 700 seats and i don't even know, 21 chambers in 2010. that was a big deal. since then they have spent $3 million just on candidate recruitment of women and people of color in this cycle, 2014 cycle, the aspen 6 million. some $9 million just since

2010 exclusively on the recruitment of republican women and people of color. now, we know what every party affiliation, that this is not the grand old party of yesteryear. these are going to be very, very conservative folks. and they have recruited as a result of this investment more than 150 people of color and more than 300 women. in they have increased the largest major increase in the number of republican female state legislatures, by 27 percent in just -- says 2010 or including 2010, i'm sorry. so, you know, there is a major activity happening. there is nothing equivalent to that of the democratic side. the dlc see does not, you know, read grant money to state parties for the

exclusive purpose of canada recruitment. there is no, you know, significant 55 they're program is called -- ironically they have a name for the female program and not a name for the people of color program. it is called white women right now. there is also one at the congressional level called project growth. so there is a similar investment happening at the congressional level. and it is just nothing on our side. you know, donna does not get $39 to recruit women or people of color. it just does not happen. so we have got to try to tap figure out that in balance as well. democrats traditionally -- i mean, democrats have -- i think there are 1100, maybe 1200 state legislative seats that are held by women and republicans have 636. some democratic women have always done better. but they will catch up.

i know from our business, we record 200 candid it's a year and we don't have a $69 budget. it is not hard for them to catch up with the investment they're making. >> it is fascinating. probably we will avalon of questions from the audience. i mean, all of you have brought up new and interesting things today, which is great. i want to in would you. in your writing you, you know, looking at it all together you present, i mean, an interesting vision looking back historically. if you can read a glass half-empty or glass half full. we have all of the signs of progress in terms of let's say having a black president, black mayors in gary, indiana, detroit, newark. the red since 1970 a number of black elected officials in the united states has increased nearly tenfold. we have these programs, and on the other hand, it's

terrible. it is really, really bad in terms of the numbers and in terms of incidents like shooting a michael brown and everything which was not an isolated event necessarily and everything that comes up so how do you balance it in your mind? where do you land? >> recalcitrant optimism. which i think there is also realistic optimism that a person who looked at our contemporary state of affairs, is skeptical person could say, well, you know, all of this organizing, all these candid it's, far more black political officials, the landscape does not look anything like it did in 1965. it culminates in the election of this individual, barack obama, to the presidency. how does that work out for you?

and that would be a significant question when we look at things like, you know, the repression -- voter suppression efforts. we look at the staggering incarceration. it just the election of a black president wasn't going to fix everything, but i do think that people probably present the point at which a black person could be elected would signify that these other things had already been resolved. and the fact that those two things are capable of coexisting then makes people go back to the drawing board and say, well, what else is there? some other additional ingredient that we fail to recognize our in the most cynical and pessimistic view , this is as good as this particular system is capable of getting. some people who represent political minority or even as a demographic change, possibly in the political majority. we have seen this and other

places. so with that said, i simply believe that my perspective as a story is that over the long term people who have been of conscience and a sincere effort have one more often than not, not necessarily been undefeated, but a good enough record to make it to the playoffs. and that is just where i land. >> i think that is a great note to and on and give it to questions. i did want to ask about voter suppression, but maybe someone in the audience can ask a question. [inaudible question] >> i just wanted to make sure to get on the microphone because i originate from ferguson. it would be likened to if you were in northwest the difference between julie town and heights, but it is the same thing. the process some town residents, there is no difference. i would never a knowledge

ferguson excluding the fact that it is now on the map. and i guess the first of all , want to thank you all for bringing this information in a scientific manner to the forefront, as this is the only way it is legitimized. i have actually since president obama has been in office calling for race conversation because i don't know what to tell my children. it's kind of leaves me -- i don't want to create a legists, but all i can tell them is that they're better than white people because i don't have anything better. i'm sorry. i believe that, but as far as how to combat the systemic barriers in systemic institutions that keep us at odds, i currently welcome a conversation that is open, on the table, and honest so that i could have some good working tools to create. i just wanted to thank you all basically for having the conversation and i look forward to being any part of it. >> i think it is an important point. in march portland sponsored

what was called governing for racial equity. and as far as i can tell, it was one of the first of its kind, designed for elected officials and government workers. it was all about how to create government that was actually equitable. and more than 500 people attended from all over the country including many mayors and elected officials so we can prompt our local governments and leave our conversations that don't have to be had at the national level. we don't need congress. this is something that can happen were every live. if you have a good mayor or anybody wants to try to sponsor something like this, occur is the proliferation of those kinds of gatherings . >> all the way in the back. >> our you doing today?

i am tyler bassett, national public radio, wamu, and local. in 2012 there were 13,635 registered voters and ferguson. the order registration today in ferguson, incidently, st. st. louis county board of election commissioners says that there were 128 million registered voters in ferguson. the increase of just less than 1%. 11% increase was possible. what do you think is the biggest difference? why he think it was only 1%? what is making the biggest difference? >> well, one thing we should be mindful of, anything that comes out about a number of registered voters.

the initial report was that there were 3,000. and then there was revised to 128. and then it would be the office of elections. a clerical mistake. not prepared to except that number is valid. when we talk about the turnout for the previous election to buy a municipal election about two weeks prior to a very racially contentious municipal election in the election prior to that which was the 2012 president's selection, the black turnout was 71 percent of eligible voters and the white turnout was 72%. as of this has everything to

do with off-year elections and whether or not they are publicizing whether or not people know. their is a primary coming up . the priories election. i think those are things that we should keep in mind about. i certainly was not doing anywhere near giving credibility to that 128 percent no. until the has been much more thoroughly scrutinized and then can have it. >> it is not even indicate what party candid it's there with. they're seems to be a lot of structural elements that does create a great deal of confusion one where the other ..

>> >> great western. absolutely as somebody said earlier, women and people of color with at the same rates as white men we have a fair shot as long as we have competitive districts as far is gerrymandering with

competitive districts is another thing to address but we also know that where there are more women and people of color the state's better generally more progressive i don't mean liberal but more for rethinking and progressive is places where there is a broader conversation with the role of government issue that is addressed as a more positive influence in people's lives to help people to do better in that environment with the governor or that dialogue so there are absolutely of

plethora of issues that are essentials for us to deal with right now that the typical candidate can keep its head down to avoid but the role of women and family friendly choices anything to benefit women talk about the duty want women voters. so talk about incarceration they of matter to the community and the older white male candidates will not talk about these issues. >> i grew up in st. louis county ferguson to me is not a good example.

when i was there there were no blacks in ferguson and it progressed over the last 20 years to be majority black so with those dynamics but it never you talked about the behavior of where i live now the majority of african-americans is the african-american electorate. i don't think there were any non african americans on the ballot except that the state level so part of this is the generalization of people of color you have to realize the minority that expectation that we can overcome so many barriers when we're such a small

percentage of the population also this people of color is problematic but when you talk about recruitment one of the things that troubles me is the money issue. and what young people to volunteer but african-american kids are not in a position to volunteer to work unpaid internship selenide is the policy of the organization's that don't consider the communities that they work with the spirit those interesting questions the idea at asking people to get involved politically but are you aware of how things are happening?

that king castlelike both positive and negative? >> i am not sure of the latter but with a formal public financing of elections arizona has the highest number percentage of women in office boss of the high as conservative and i think that might be another thing to address the issue of money and politics if people have resources from the question from majorities act african-americans to have a higher -- a part-time but latinos and asians in america is to not.

in treating people as color but there are differences. >> quickly on the issue of majority and is counterintuitive to make perfect sense that specifically they tend to fare better in the majority white context so people were shocked when barack obama one i web because it has so few black people it was not mississippi it was not like within the current field. [laughter] cotton field. we forget 1988 jackson won vermont that has an even

smaller black populations of people do not believe you are part of the group with the marginal number if you don't feel threatened you could stand a chance on face value. >> you have something? >> this is not simply a moral question it is a strategic one to my mind if candidates and parties and political actors want to succeed we will have to reckon with this in a serious way for those who control the political system

should change but if you want to engage the electorate when a jew turn out candidates. on the range of topics as a clear past due getting an. >> thanks for coming today. [applause]

>> great to see you all tonight on behalf of the league of women voters i will commute to the candidates' forum for the new jersey third congressional district i wish to thank the audience and the candidates for participating and the public schools for generously donating'' we're using for this event. the member of the league of women voters and very pleased to be here with you. a nonpartisan political organization so active for

dissipation we do not support forums or candidates to increase understanding of major public policy issues through education and advocacy. elections and voting our core concerns year in and year out we are committed to providing fact based information and the take on those issues to help voters make educated decisions in the process. forums like this are of that commission. and a service to the voters. the video will be available on-line on princeton tv it

will be rebroadcast in its entirety by c-span so check the web site for scheduling details before we proceed i will ask the silence and put away all electronic devices that includes a cell phones, tablets and cameras and with the exception of media. the private -- that prohibits it audience members remember we are broadcast. any footage from the debate campaign material or literature or advertising of any kind cable or television has not been authorized by

the league of women voters. we encourage you with voter registration in addition to the league of women voters with the membership pressure to learn more about the work we do in addition other candidate events of a blake to remind everybody if you are wearing as a campaign button or a hat did needs to be put away at this time i will introduce tonight's moderator. karen? [applause] >> i n your moderator in the interest of full disclosure

i was in the 12th canker shuttle distracted i will not be -- congressional district and i will not be voting this session. it is pertinent to the office and to the issues questions were submitted in writing. please hold applies and with the timing you'll have four minutes fielding questions from the league of women voters panel and then remove onto audience questions

should there be a specific question if there is a rebuttal each candidate will get one minute for that. at the conclusion they will give you the warning sign. the stop sign means stop. [laughter] now we have barely give women panel you will leave the questions because tony is the president said is the

treasurer and secretary. end then we will start. >> think he very much. and everyone who cannot do the democratic process ibm ms. belgard i currently live in an edge water park with my a husband and two young boys. also known as double trouble. my background forge with community service it shifted a little bit after losing both might parents to cancer too early i lost my mother to breast cancer and my father as the vietnam veteran he was lost to

stomach cancer exposed to agent orange to take your life experiences. and how various roles one that i was proud of as the ambassador with groups of volunteers after years of doing that i decide i was tired of asking other people to make decisions. and i a currently serve in their progress service there and now i'm taking a leave to run for congress people ask me all the time why are you doing this? congress is such of mess. we need to step up and fix

it that is why i intend to do. to washington to put our priorities back in order here in the third district it is clear the middle-class is struggling i have seen on the campaign trail. to make things better for the middle-class whether making sure or shipping jobs overseas to make education more affordable to invest in infrastructure the third district also talk about raising the minimum wage for the district that the winner paid equally for equal work

right here in south jersey we have a great economic engine the second largest employer in this state we need an advocate to go to congress to speak up and having grown up there i know how important that base is i'll absolutely fight for a the base also for veterans having seen my father went through i know the struggle we have seen the systemic problems not only in their care but in education also the seniors that will say i am not a k2 take away their hard-earned benefits our seniors have worked for like medicare and social security

with democrats or republicans people who are willing to work as the whole with our community that is i have done as of volunteer to unravel due to serve the third district. [applause] >> please hold your applause to the end. >> thanks to the league of women voters for hosting this id for joining me to be here we will talk about a lot of things over the next 90 minutes, a lot of issues. introducing myself as a person first u.s. not to send a political party but a real live person and the

conditions in the opinion said shapes how they act. one of five kids from a middle-class family in a mother and father raised very different mom was a liberal democrat and a catholic dad was a conservative republican protestant. we spend our nights talking about the two things you're not supposed to talk about. and i learned to show respect of other people's views but have the courage of your own convictions. my first job i was an insurance adjuster making 13,000 per year with my new bride and i stayed there nearly three decades i had an opportunity to the day company was 100 people in one location and we grew across the united states by the thousands.

my greatest joy to show a better future for them and their families i could not have done any of that without my bride of 32 years we had our challenges along the way first child born the 85 severely handicapped and it shaped us a lot through her life and her death in 11 years of age she showed me the value and potential of every person we also had the privilege to adopt to children reason is 24 and my youngest daughter is right here and is 17. my children have inspired me to make a difference in this world they will inherit you'll carry different story about my life you'll hear my opponent parroting talking points for national handle a

washington d.c. because she has and i believe she will continue to attack but does not change that i created thousands of jobs but aimee was a tax jobs you will hear that she attacked me for fair pay on women but that does not change there is only one of us on this stage that has lived that out to give free pate -- their pay to women over decades and i will make sure we achieve the quality. aimee has and will continue to attack me and women's health care which is very personal and offensive because i lost my birth mother and another that raised me from cancer. and there is a woman i would give anything for sitting in

the front row so juicy adult care is offensive and aimee will continue to attack me to not care about you pricing she would like to forget for a decade my wife and iran a family foundation we have done anything's might give away thousands of wheelchair's in memory of my daughter. and we are afraid to inherit ameritech going in the wrong direction because investing your pointing it is time to go to washington to solve problems. thank-you. [applause] >> and no more applause. now we begin with that panel.

but discuss the campaign finance regulation and to what is the profit of the corporation's? >> thank you very much i truly appreciate this question because i think we need to work to overturn citizens united with what has happened with campaign financing. to be working for the people not those large corporations that are finding them. just to see how extensive

campaigns have become of it is about representing the people and we need to return elections to that. i will be very vocal and outspoken my opponent has said after spending millions of dollars against me that aimee will never outspend him he has plenty of resources that is now with the election is about but serving the people that is what we need to return our election to. >> it is a good question. i like -- there are concerns about unlimited funding. and yet against that is the balance of free speech with the supreme court struggles

with. . . i do think some reform is necessary, and i call again tonight from my opponent to disavowal ads that are based on lies. there is no place for that in the campaign. >> moderator: a one minute rebuttal.

belgard: if i may, i wanted to insure a quick story that i am proud of. in order to run and raise money we have quarters. we have situations where a woman send me any melt and said to me, you know, i believe the new. you have worked so hard in edge water park and you work so hard as a free holder and that you would represent our interests and congress. i have $9 to give me to the end of this year, and it was december 301st of all but i am giving you all $9 for your campaign because that is how important this is to meet. it brought tears to my eyes. that, to me, is to we need to represent. that is free speech, that is a power of the dollar. >> moderator: thank you. macarthur: i will take that as the answer. does not wish to disavow the

allies that coming out of washington d.c. we will take that as a no. >> moderator: we will move on to our question. >> what should the federal government's perris be in setting the sound energy policy? please include a discussion of your position with regard to fossil fuels, renewable energy sources, and protection of the environment. macarthur: all important things to balance. we are today dependent on countries that are sometimes adversarial to us and sometimes on -- and dependable. we need to make sure that exploit every source at our disposal which includes an all of the above approach, nuclear, the renewals to of fossil fuels.

i believe that we should be looking to build natural-gas facilities. we should do things like the xl pipeline. right here in new jersey we have opportunities. in ocean county we ever nuclear power. we should be looking for an opportunity to put another tap the power generation facility there. it is critical of america stand on its own, and we had tremendous resources, natural gas, oil. we should be looking in all of that. gramm excited because it is clean. i think with proper research and investment it can become more efficient. and i would want to explore offshore wind is a possibility. >> thank you. >> thank you. so this is an important topic right here in the third district, especially when we have seen some of the impact of climate change, especially along our

coastline. and i think that the first goal would be to remove ourselves from our reliance on foreign oil. you know, we have an amazingly innovative kutcher year. and if we could instead of investing in companies and giving tax breaks to companies that are big oil companies, let's invest that money in innovative solutions right here in the united states like solar, like wind, geothermal, other ideas that made have not even be fully developed yet. we are an amazing and innovative country command we can do it. think there is a large distinction between myself and mr. tom macarthur in this regard. we have talked about that he is investing in foreign oil companies, state-owned while companies by russia and china. the russian company that has been sanctioned recently by the united states and by the

european union for their involvement in removing the gas from the ukraine. it think that is a conflict here. i also think that -- you know, i hear things like we need to exploit every resource at our disposal. that gives me reason for great concern. oil exploration off the coast of the beautiful jersey shoreline. that is something that this -- this district certainly does not want. again, looking to alternatives, investing in alternatives which not only makes for a cleaner environment, but also use our economy right here at home in the third district. >> thank you. macarthur: i would like to respond to one piece of that. have heard the suggestion about oil subsidies a number of times from this aimee belgard. i am not sure this is more than a political talking point for this reason.

the bolt of these subsidies, the largest of them is for the strategic or reserved. are we not going to find that? of course we have to fund it. a second goes to farmers, the second-largest subsidy does not go to our company's spirited goes to farmers. and much of the petroleum taxes go to transportation. so they get a subsidy. are we going to cancel that? the third largest subsidy is for people that cannot afford heating oil and the middle of winter. it is easy to say, and those three alone are about $4 billion of subsidies. it is easy to say, let's just cut this and that, but there are real consequences to this. i don't think you have thought that through very well. >> moderator: thank you. belgard: it seems to me that it is easy to be for oil subsidies when you have invested in oil companies and when your profit comes

when oil company's profit. >> moderator: thank you. the next question is for candid aimee belgard. >> your evening. should the federal government ensure that americans have health insurance and all women have access to reproductive health service? please discuss your position with regard to health care access in general and the inclusion of reproductive service and all benefits packages. belgard: thank you. i am a longtime advocate with the american cancer society and have been working for affordable, accessible health care for all americans for very long time. and i know that there has been recent talk obviously wish of the affordable care act. and i will just touch on that briefly before we get to the rest of the question. you know, i can tell you that i have seen firsthand the problems with the

affordable care act, even a mild life. and i talked to small business owners are worried that the affordable care act will be too much of a burden on them. but i think there are ways to fix it and make it better for all americans rather than forcing the purpose, let's actually make it better so that we have more access. i think we do that by containing costs, making sure that when we do things fallout, making sure that there is transparency in the process. i think that if patients were the ultimate consumers and actually understood what the money was going toward rather than paying $3 for a band-aid at one facility or $30 for bandit at another facility to this would help the prices come down. it think those are issues we need to work on, but right now congress is not even discussing in. that is where we're at a standstill. we need to come together to fix it, and i think -- i have seen firsthand people

who have actually benefited from the affordable care act. and a volunteer with the american cancer society for the first time in ten years has coverage she did not before because of a pre-existing condition. when we turn back the clock on things like health care and turn back the clock on things like women's health care, these are absolute issues. we need a voice for women in congress. we need a voice for people who have health care issues in congress to man that is exactly what i will be. >> thank you. it. macarthur: i do not believe that fixing obamacare is about discovering the cost of band-aids. and i think that much of that is just platitudes. obamacare is and was a bad idea. it is a government takeover of one of the largest industries in the united states, and it will result -- it is already resulting in higher costs to reductions in care, massive

reductions in choice, and it was a mistake. and you don't fix a mistake with a band-aid approach, which is what i just heard. what we need is free-market reforms, things like allowing insurance to be sold across state lines to allow real competition in bringing costs down. many small employers to be able to pull so that they get the benefit of larger discounts. we need tort reform car real, significant tort reform so that medicine can be practiced differently in the united states. those of the things that will result in more choice, better quality of care, lower-cost. and lastly, i think that we need a safety net. we have to have a safety net for people at the state level, i believe. i mentioned my daughter briefly you died at age 11. in her lifetime we had over a million dollars or the medical bills. that was two decades ago. i would have been bankrupt.

i don't believe anybody should face health care crises like that alone. i just don't believe that those sorts of safety nets should be at the federal level because it is too big. the scale is too big, the lack of accountability to lack of competition, and i believe those sorts of safety nets can be done at the state level. and that is what i would advocate. >> moderator: rebel. belgard: thank you. i have seen firsthand the people who have had to make the decisions of putting food on the table are going for their next chemotherapy treatment. i have seen these people now have the covers that they need so that they have the security for themselves and for their families. i have seen and talked to college parents who now feel that they have the security of knowing that their college-age student as coverage while away in school. and i think that we cannot turn our clock back on that. and what i am hearing is

exactly what is wrong in congress right now where it is black or white. it is keeping or repeal it, but to work to fix it, and i think that is exactly what is wrong. there is another solution. we need to work together to fix this to work together to make sure that women continue to get the contraceptive care that they need despite what washington is doing. these are not decisions that are to be made by employers or by bureaucrats down washington. >> moderator: thank you. response. macarthur: of want to mention two other things. with regard to women's health and contraceptive care, these are important. as a ceo i make sure that we provide both. and often in my tenure i want to say i am pleased to have gotten the endorsement of multiple unions, many here tonight. and unions have been terribly discriminated against in obamacare.

the government has picked winners and losers. obamacare includes $900 billion worth of subsidies over ten years for the major commercial health insurers. the union health plans are not eligible and are being frozen out of that market by government picking winners and losers. it is a mistake. >> thank you. our next question is from tony's zimmer. candid it tom macarthur first. >> what policy should the federal government pursue to and brevard nation's economy please discuss the federal government's responsibility for addressing growing economic disparity across economic income groups and also include an increase. macarthur: thank you. i believe this touches on the most important element of this campaign, the