BLUE HAIR WOMEN IN RED STATES (via Mike Daley):

Minnesota women blazing a new kind of political trail (Dane Smith, 03/21/2004, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Whenever Minnesota's top elected officials gather these days, women are well represented -- not a terrible surprise in a state historically known for its liberalism.

What's unexpected is that Minnesota's female political powerhouses are mostly conservative Republicans.

The state's pace-setting Republican women include Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, State Auditor Patricia Anderson and Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz. [...]

In the Legislature last year, both of the key sponsors of legislation that allowed more people to get permits to carry guns were Republican women: Sen. Pat Pariseau and Rep. Lynda Boudreau. This year, the lead authors of the bill for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage are again Republican women: Sen. Michele Bachman and Rep. Mary Liz Holberg.

The advances of conservative women extend into the realm of local government, interest groups and public-policy advocacy. Strong players in those fields include: Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele, a conservative voice in Minnesota's largest local government; Kersten, of the Center of the American Experiment, who is a frequent contributor to opinion pages and policy journals; Linda Runbeck, a top leader of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota; and Annette Meeks, public affairs director for the Center of the American Experiment and a member of the Metropolitan Council. [...]

Unlike many DFL women who jumped into politics in their 20s or 30s, Republican women tend to have raised their children first and been drawn into community affairs gradually, Molnau said.

"For whatever reason, there are some women driven to do what they think is right; they put in the extra time, they get active, and they are rewarded," Molnau said.

Kiffmeyer is an example of a lifelong party activist who didn't run for public office until she was a grandmother. And she marvels that she and other women managed without much difficulty to achieve statewide office without the quotas imposed by DFLers at almost every level of party organization.

"It's not like we were owed it," Kiffmeyer said. "We felt we had to earn it."

The key to long term dominance of a state's politics is a deep bench like this one.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 21, 2004 5:39 PM