Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

 

Kamala Harris isn’t getting any honeymoon, and some Democrats are fretting

Noah Bierman, LA Times

Vice President Kamala Harris has been the subject of critical media coverage during the first half of this year in office. Harris currently trails President Joe Biden in public support—the Vice President is favorably viewed by 44% of voters, according to Real Clear Politics, compared to 51% of voters who view Biden favorably. Supporters of Harris have pushed back against scrutiny of her and in some cases noted that her responsibilities in the administration include difficult tasks such as voting access and immigration. Also noted by allies of the Vice President is the fact that racism and gender-based prejudice are a factor in how voters perceive her. “Perhaps the biggest challenge for all vice presidents is showing the public that they are capable of leading as commander in chief. For Harris, that challenge is all the greater, given that she is the first woman and the only woman of Black and Asian descent to hold the job.

You can read the full article here.

 

Biden’s federal judicial picks are 77 percent women so far

Amanda Becker, The 19^th

Last month, the U.S. Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to a federal appeals court—marking the first time in close to a decade that a Black woman was confirmed to a court at that level. The selection of Brown Jackson was in line with President Joe Biden’s stated intent to nominate a higher percentage of women to federal judgeships in the first six months of his administration than any previous President. Women currently hold about one-third of federal judiciary roles. There are additional implications for nominees, as “Biden has prioritized filling these vacancies in part because they are considered a proving ground for potential Supreme Court nominees.”

You can read the full article here.

 

109 Mayors, All Men. When Will New York Elect a Woman?

Emma G. Fitzsimmons, New York Times

In the wake of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, which was won this week by Eric Adams, advocates who believed the city may elect its first woman leader are reflecting on the race. The two women who came closest to winning, Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley, between them earned over 380,000 first-choice votes, amounting to nearly 41% of all votes. Both Garcia and Wiley noted the progress represented by their campaigns despite the loss. “’This campaign has come closer than any other moment in history to breaking that glass ceiling in selecting New York City’s first female mayor,’ said Garcia, ‘We cracked the hell out of it, and it’s ready to be broken.’” According to Wiley, “’We did shatter the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling that said that women could not be top-tier candidates. The glass ceiling that said women would be discounted. The glass ceiling that said we can’t be seen as leaders, and I think we demonstrated that is not true.’” Other major cities that have not yet elected a woman leader include Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

You can read the full article here.

 

Why the Gender Gap May Have Shrunk In The 2020 Election

Geoffrey Skelley, FiveThirtyEight

Women have typically voted more Democratic than men in presidential elections going back to 1980. However, the difference between how women and men voted “meaningfully narrowed” from the 2016 election to 2020’s race. According to the Pew Research Center, there was a 7 percentage point difference between women’s support for Biden (at 55%) and men’s (at 48%). Various possible reasons for the change in voting along gender lines exist—including the role that education level has on voters’ decisions at the ballot box. And, in the 2020 election, Joe Biden’s background as a white man in his late 70s may have been a factor. Biden broadly gained among men both with and without a college degree, and with white men and married men overall.

You can read the full article here.