The Virginian Pilot today has an article about the women of the Virginia Senate. Senior among them is Norfolk’s own Yvonne Miller, who has served the in Senate since 1988 and is the third ranking senator in the legislature in terms of seniority. There are eight women in the Senate and all seven Democratic women have committee chairmanships. The lone Republican, Jill Holtzman Vogel, is in her first term.
Miller, the first black woman elected to the House and the Senate, encourages other women to become involved in politics.
One way she plants the seed is by asking young women who visit her office to take a seat – her seat – behind her massive desk.
“I ask them to try out my chair,” Miller said. “And I ask them to think about public service.
I can attest to the fact that she does that as it was one of the first things she asked me to do when I visited Richmond 🙂
Virginia does not have the female representation in the state legislature that others have, ranking 40th with only 16% of the 140 being female. The national average is 24%. Perhaps in 2009, not only will there be Democratic gains in the House, but also an increase in the number of women there. We had some good candidates last fall. Let’s hope some of them decide to run again.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 