emily's list? >> thank you. it is great to be here today. a 29-year-old organization that is committed to electing pro-choice democratic women to office up and down the ballot. we do is train and recruit

and support and elect women. that is our goal. have huge opportunities to help hold the united states senate as well as add voices to the house and electing some governors along way. we have a whole series of priorities. it is about representative moccasin anymore women's voices. >> i want to talk about the senate and north carolina. this is one of the biggest bets that you are making this cycle. you're spending a few million dollars in that race. why north carolina as the biggest bet? they don't mention some other andes such as equal pay also education and tax cuts for the wealthy. >> that is exactly right.

senator kayorted hagan. we want to see her reelected. this is a huge priority of ours. we are also engaged significantly and you will see than othericantly races in georgia and kentucky and new hampshire. senator hagan has been such a champion for women and families. we recognize quickly that what our role through independent -- independent expenditure lays out the differences between senator , he hasn and tom tillis done some real damage to education and women's health issuesd a whole host of that affect women and families in north carolina.

our job is to make sure that women voters understand those differences and are aware of the choices that they have. let's talk about some of the other senate races. you have allison grimes in kentucky. tell us about that race and what she represents to your group. -- thrilledree bit allison took this on. she is rented against the minority leader of the united states senate. of we knew two things from the beginning. is one of the least popular senators in the entire country. even by his own voters. that is problem number one for him. the second is the secretary of state has an incredible record

in working for women and families in the state and has a real vision for jobs in kentucky , which is so incredibly important. we get engaged with allison right off the bat. and wes a clear contrast have a candidate who can take this on. you can see that by the polling. this is incredibly close. is one of many races that is going to be decided by women voters. is atnder gap in kentucky 18 points. that is an incredible number since the electorate of kentucky is 53% women. mcconnell has an uphill battle here. we think that we will make a huge change by sending allison grimes to the u.s. senate. are notbout a race you involved in. that is in colorado. ite than any other state,

seems like some of those core issues like abortion and contraception seem to be particularly big issues there. mark udall is making a big deal about cory gardner's support. why is this plane bigger in colorado and not so much in so the other states you mentioned earlier. >> i think what you have in colorado -- i grew up in montana so i came up with that western mentality with a good libertarian bent. what you are seeing with senator mark udall is a clear contrast on women's health care. it is a very clear contrast. if this is notn played in north carolina or georgia or kentucky? it is in different ways. further on access

to birth control and limiting access to birth control than the hobby lobby decision did. these are important issues. we are about winning elections. we know that our candidates are the ones. they stand up for women's rights. they want to be talking about and hearing from their leaders andt economic opportunities a fair shot for a future that is going to be good for their families. health care is a huge piece of economic opportunity. they're going to hear that conversation play out. have talked about women candidates and getting women

voters to cast their votes for them. when democrats talk about turnout issues that they have in midterm elections, young women is of the groups a gets most often. are more likely to turn out in a presidential year. what are you doing to ensure democratically group shows up at the polls in the races that you are interested in this year? >> this is so important in a midterm game that we are playing. had it we ensure that voters get out to vote? it is a lot of young voters that we need to get to the polls. emily's list has a unique history on it. it was 20 years ago that we started our women vote row graham. have been doing this for a long time. over those two decades now, we've been doing research on how

women are thinking about voting and how they best get their information. through those years of able toion, we are mobilize and educate women voters across the country. -- northlook at the carolina and our television spots there, these are the issues they want to talk about. we have candidates that are supporting the issues that they provide them opportunity moving forward. you have got to be talking about the issues that affect their daily lives. being paid the same as their male counterparts is a huge issue. arm has done some really amazing research and you should check it out. this is unequal pay. they have a huge percent of the

population moved by this issue. this as aking at driving motivation factor for women getting to the polls. we see that happening. we are going to see that in states across the country. >> you mentioned the your from montana. , montana democrats were searching for a candidate and yours came up. he decided not to run. walsh announcing that he is not going to seek a full did anybodyar, approach you about running or reconsidering? won't get into any conversations that i may or may not have had about this senate race of my involvement. we had anl say is opportunity in montana.

it the state democratic party is going to come together and choose a candidate very soon and we will see how that plays out. montana is an interesting state. a lot of people think naturally but it is conservative, is that combination of libertarian and populism. the right candidate 10 make a difference. i think he is a great example of the kind of leader that you collect in montana. that is what voters are looking for. we will have to see what happens with the choice of who will be the nominee for the selection. it is going to be -- it is not asy to campaign statewide quickly as they're going to have

to. this is happening all over the country. we can see some of this play out in montana. >> we are very focused on what is going on in the senate and the fight to keep the senate. races, the governors stakes are high. there is only one woman democrat occupy the governor's mansion. tell us about the races you are looking out across the country and one of the seats you hope to pick up. --thank you for writing reminding everybody that we only have one at democratic governor. she is up for reelection because new hampshire has two-year terms. we really do have some great toortunities to add women the ranks of the governorships this year. some of the best opportunities

remain in the new england area. we have the state treasurer in rhode island running for governor. this is a three-way primary. the momentum seems to be building. we are proud to be supporting her and look forward to that primary coming to pass and focusing on the general election. massachusetts, the very popular attorney general continues to lead in the polls and the general. we are proud to be tending with her. we also have a couple of other races that people have not looked at as closely. i hear that you can't beat

governor scott walker. i am here to tell you that this race is dead even. we have a huge opportunity with mary burke. she is a businesswoman and a job creator. she served as secretary commerce -- of commerce. she understands the economic needs of wisconsin. governor walker remains very polarizing in the state. he did not fulfill his thomas to bring jobs to the state. it is a real problem for him. i think we have an opportunity to really pick up that governors race. i think people will be surprised at the end of that one. i think it will be mary burke. she has a lot of interest from outside groups. >> what do you think the ground game in wisconsin will look like? there are going to be outside groups coming in. we are already seeing the coke

brother and to tease behind governor walker. him as a potential presidential nominee. it is not about wisconsin. for the people of wisconsin, it is all about wisconsin. this is one the most important jobs in the state. as we see more and more activity on the ground from a large coalition of people who want somebody in that role who is focusing on the economy and education and the future of the state, that is why i think it is going to be close. it is a very polarized state right now. money,not spend as much we will have a feed the ground to get this done. >> how about bringing in high-profile state -- people?

will hillary clinton hit the trail for some of your candidates? secretary clinton and president clinton have been such advocates. hopeful and expect to see some activity. of so much of this is about turnout and making sure our andrs get to the polls anything that is mobilizing and energizing to get women to the poll, to get african-american and hispanics to the polls, it will make a huge difference. i think it will be all hands on deck. you did not mention wendy davis in texas.

i want to ask. polls show her down significantly. do you think she still has a chance to win? is this more about taking advantage of the demographic changes and make it competitive down the road? >> i do believe she has a chance. we have been watching it for a long time. it hasn't moved that much. is some movement on her side. it just started. this is a huge state. there is lots of media markets. now having ast much broader conversation with voters. we have seen in the last week or hard hitting ad that

puts drag abbott on the defense for his lack of response in supporting, this is a serious issue. women are going to be shocked in texas as they are seen this ad. who is greg abbott? people are just figuring out who he is. he is an incredible conservative. this is going to get closer as we get closer to the election. i am not saying it's easy. we are dealing with a race in texas, but this is far from over. difficult for women to get elected to executive positions? there are 16 democratic women in the senate. there are a number of attorneys general. high-profileme

women mayors in 2013 running in new york and los angeles. is there a barrier in terms of executive's oceans? positions?e ouret's not forget about mayor in houston. it is a good question. we are very engaged with it. what we have found is once you have that breakthrough, whether it is a mayor or a governor, people think that is normal. wherell live in a country 24 states have never had a woman governor. that is across the country. they have never seen a woman governor.

part of it is just breaking through. years.een working for 29 we have made great inroads. we have helped elect 10 women governors. on the other hand, we have only helped elect 10 women governors. once women and men see her in that role, it becomes commonplace. that is the work we do every day. >> scott mentioned governors and mayors. we talked about secretary clinton earlier. to what extent is that an issue for her after 2008? are americans ready for a female president? i thought you were going to bring up our female mayor candidate right here in washington dc.

this is a question we have. to -- is america ready for a woman resident? what does that mean? they are absolutely ready. it only are they ready to support and see a woman president, they are ready to vote for a woman candidate for president. the other thing that we saw in this research was voters in battleground states see women leaders bringing the right priorities and right judgments to the job. they see them breaking through the partisan bickering and putting family and country in front of partisanship. in the current environment we are in today, this is a very good environment for a woman to step up and run for president. >> we have time for a few more

questions. >> thinking about the house of representatives, most of the forecasters look at what might happen to the house. republicans might pick up a handful of seats. getting intoo these battleground races, when a state seat opens up and you can identify a woman that you have worked with on the state level, do you think there'll be more democratic women in congress next year even if their are fewer democrats? there have been a lot of retirements of democrats in these safe democratic seats. i'm glad you brought up that pipeline idea. so much of the work we do is train women to run for the legislature.

becomes our pipeline for exactly what you are talking about. that is what we have been trying to build. we have had some success this year in a moving women through primaries. this is a safe democratic district. she is going to be heading to congress in january. that is where a lot of our work is done, in adding new voices and women of color. this is important in that representative democracy that we believe in so strongly. that is a piece of the work that we're doing. we are hoping that we might end up with a net gain. i want to throughout the fact that there could be some pickups by democrats in the house. i understand the forecasters.

they are saying loss or minus five. we have some really good women running in pickup opportunities. women like when graham in florida. tight race in a republican seat. she is running a fantastic race. a another one i want to bring up is stacy apple in iowa. iowa has an interesting history. you know. i'll has never elected a woman to congress. -- iowa has never elected a woman to congress. we do have a handful of great

democratic women. or seven thatsix we are watching closely that might be picking up seats along the way. >> one more question. franken, you work for his campaign in 2008. year he faces the voters again. i want to ask about the profile he cut in the senate. looking at the way he has cut his profile here in washington, for someone who was a comedian and actor and wrote pretty outlandish books and was a big sort ofity, he has been the opposite in d.c. >> he had a career change. he deeply wants to represent the

people of minnesota. he became a senator. he has become an incredible senator. and is about his priority. he put down one piece of his career and shifted over and has become a senator. i could not be prouder of the work he has done. leader onlly become a all whole set of issues. the jobless to represent the people of minnesota. i hope people see how well he has been doing in that role. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you very much for being c-span's newsmaker. >> thank you very much. >> and we are back. let me begin with you, scott.

what impact will emily's list have in 2014? >> i think they will have a big impact. we talked about senator kay hagan in north carolina. that is one of the most important races in the country. it could be the tipping point seat. to have emily's list their to help kay hagan raise money but also making contact on their own with women voters and trying to the type of drop turnoutrs that you see for a democratic senator in an important race, that is a huge potential impact. >> was the ground him like? >> it starts with the fund-raising. it starts with their pipeline of candidates.

group, theyy other have been responsible for this infusion of women candidates into the republic -- democratic party. this the biggest test for them. are spending $3 million in north carolina. they're going on television, which is something they don't traditionally do. they tried -- provide training for canada to. they do fund-raising help so that the candidates can get their campaigns running. if theya lot of that, can turn out those young single women the traditionally don't vote in midterm elections, that is the big test. >> they have raised $45 million the cycle. how important is the female vote? >> it is very important.

traditionally, you see agenda group -- gender gap. which they can leverage that three decades worth of research that she talked about and figure out exactly how to get more women to go to the polls could be decisive. >> women voted evenly for the democratic candidates in 2010. in 2012, they had a 10 point advantage among women. it is also about convincing them that they should vote for the democratic candidate. >> is this war on women that democrats are saying republicans are doing, is that working? >> it seemed to turn the tide a little bit in 2012. blocked equal pay

legislation. you will not see a lot of the abortion attacks. >> i think it is interesting to note that if you look at campaign tv ads for democrats across races, we do a ton of that, you will notice a lot of women in the ads. there is a conscious choice to have women speak to women and families. >> what about president obama? do the candidates won him on the trail? >> he is more popular among women than he is about and -- among men. veryme states he will be valuable in getting these voters to the polls who have voted for him in 2008 and 2012.

in one of the states are the control of senate is going to be decided, including north carolina, he is not as popular. you have these competing values. the u-turn at your base that does not vote in midterms or do to swing voters and get them support the democrats are in there are very few who appeared with president obama so far. we will see if there are any more. >> thank you very much for being part of "newsmakers." today, saxby