SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON may not have won the presidency, but Barack Obama’s former Secretary of State did make history by becoming the first female to clinch a major party nomination for U.S President in 2016.
Along with the aforementioned roles, Clinton was an Ivy-educated lawyer who began her career as a disability rights activist lawyer for children. Her loss in November 2016 to Donald Trump shocked the world and arguably re-ignited the feminist flame in the western world as women (and men) mobilised against all that Trump stood for.
In the 2018 Mid-Term elections more women ran for office than in any other election in American history. They won in record-breaking numbers: women now account for just over 20% of Congressional House seats and for 25% of Senate seats.
Still a long way to go before there is gender parity, but it’s a stepping stone.
After the elections were done and dusted, attention turned to who would be throwing their hat into the ring for the Democratic Presidential nomination, or specifically, which women would be running. Here are the woman who have stepped up to the challenge so far.
Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Date of birth: 22 June 1949 ( currently 69 years old so will be 71 when entering office if she wins)
What’s her background?
Warren got her Bachelor of Science in speech pathology and audiology, and then taught children with disabilities. She enrolled in law school and afterwards went into academic research on how bankruptcy laws affected financially distressed companies, women, the elderly and the working poor. Warren taught at several universities including Harvard Law School. After the 2007-8 financial crisis, her expertise in financial law meant that she was appointed to several key governmental advisory roles and her profile rose. She ran for and won a Senate seat in 2012.
Personal life:
Warren is the youngest of four children of lower middle-class parents from Oklahoma City. Aged 19 she got married to her high school sweetheart, Jim Warren. They had two children, Amelia and Alexander, but divorced in 1978. Warren retained her surname after she married her second husband, Bruce Mann, a law professor.
Any controversies?
Of course, who has led a perfect life? She hasn’t been caught on camera talking about grabbing pussies, but thirty years ago she registered herself as an American Indian (Native American) on a Texas Bar Application when asked for what her ‘race’ was. Some say this was an attempt at her to benefit from Affirmative Action. Warren has repeatedly apologised, said she is not a tribal citizen but that she had learnt that she had Native American family heritage. A DNA test revealed that six to ten generations ago she had a Cherokee ancestor.
Most importantly, is she Irish?
Warren apparently has Irish and Scots-Irish (Northern Irish) heritage, but most Google searches on her ancestry relate to the above controversy. Yikes!
What are her chances?
Paddy Power have her odds at 8/1 to be the next Democratic Nominee
Senator Kamala Harris
- Date of birth: 20 October 1964 (currently 54 years old so will be 56 entering office if she wins)
What’s her background?
Harris graduated from University of California law school in 1989.
Personal life:
Harris is one of two daughters born to emigrant parents: her mother emigrated from India in 1960 and was a breast cancer scientist, whilst her father emigrated from Jamaica and is an economics professor at Stanford University. Harris married Douglas Emhoff, a Californian attorney in 2014. Through him she is a stepmother to two children: one in high school and one in college.
Any controversies?
No big skeletons have emerged yet, but there’s lots of time left.
Most importantly, is she Irish?
Through her father she may have a small amount of Northern Irish ancestry.
What’s her chances?
Paddy Power have her at the favourite to be the next Democratic Nominee at 3/1.
Kirsten Gillibrand
- Date of birth? December 9, 1966 (currently 52 years old so will be 54 entering office if she wins)
What’s her background?
Gillibrand graduated as a lawyer in 1991 from UCLA Law School. She practiced privately as well as working on Clinton’s Senate campaign. In 2006 Gillibrand was elected to the House of Representatives, representing an upstate New York district. When Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009, Gillibrand was nominated to take her Senate Seat.
Personal life:
Gillibrand grew up in New York with her attorney parents. Gillibrand met her British husband Jonathan Gillibrand on a blind date: he was only planning to be in America for a year whilst studying, but after the pair fell in love he decided to stay. The couple have two sons, Theodore aged 15 and Henry aged 10.
Any controversies?
She’s flip-flopped on the topic of immigration and deportation during her political career, which may come back to haunt her as Trump’s Border Wall and immigration look set to be an issue at the forefront of the 2020 election. In 2006, when she first ran for the House of Representatives, Gillibrand said that securing the US-Mexico border was a “national security priority”, and in 2008, a mailer sent from her office highlighted her efforts to expedite deportations by “expanding detention capacity and increasing the number of Federal District Court judges”.
Most importantly, is she Irish?
Yes, through her mother she is Irish, with her grandfather Peter Noonan born to Irish parents from Co. Galway. Gillibrand tweeted her support of the Marriage Referendum in May 2015.
What are her chances?
Paddy Power have her at 11/1 to be the next Democratic Nominee.
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