Unhappy with the direction in which her country was headed, 26-year-old Kelli Crawford decided to stop complaining and do something about it: She ran for a seat on the Akron City Council.
Quiz
Which current U.S. governor is the daughter of a governor?
A. Sarah Palin of Alaska
B. Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware
C. Linda Lingle of Hawaii
D. Kathleen Sebilius of Kansas
D. Sebelius’ father served as governor of Ohio.
Which former governor became head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?
A. Kay Orr of Nebraska
B. Ann Richards of Texas
C. Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana
D. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey
D. Whitman was EPA administrator from 2001 to 2003.
Which current female governor is not a native-born American citizen?
A. Janet Napolitano of Arizona
B. Jodi Rell of Connecticut
C. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan
D. Christine Gregoire of Washington
C. Granholm is a native of Canada.
Did You Know?
In 2008, women hold 86, or 16.1 percent of the 535 seats in the 110th U.S. Congress. Of them, 20, or 23.3 percent, are women of color, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at the Rutgers State University of New Jersey.
Although women have yet to hold the many of the top jobs in the U.S. federal government, they have a long history of leadership in state governments. Find out more about their historic "firsts."
Soledad Chacon becomes secretary of state for New Mexico. One of the first Hispanic graduates of the University of New Mexico, she also served briefly as the state’s acting governor in 1924.
Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes governor of Wyoming. A widow who fulfilled her late husband’s unexpired term, she later served as director of the U.S. Mint – one of the first women to head a federal agency.
Grace Urbahns becomes treasurer of Indiana. Initially appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the death of her husband, she subsequently was elected in her own right.
Matilda Wilson becomes lieutenant governor of Michigan. In 1931, Time magazine recognized this wife, mother, and chairman of board at the Fidelity Bank & Trust Co. as “the most prominent women in U.S. banking.”
Lorna Lockwood becomes chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Lockwood, whose father had held the same post, also served as a legislator and an assistant attorney general.
Arlene Violet becomes attorney general of Rhode Island. Violet was a nun in the Sisters of Mercy religious order when she left the order to run Rhode Island attorney general in 1984.
State and Local Government: Laboratories of Democracy
The 50 U.S. states are divided into 3,141 counties with about 30,000 cities and 85,000 townships. The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants state and local governments all powers not specifically reserved for the federal government. Consequently, states and communities adopt laws and forms of government that suit their needs, resulting in a diverse patchwork of governmental practices.
