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:

 

A Historic Number Of Women Will Be Governors Next Year

Meredith Conroy and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, FiveThirtyEight

As a result of this year’s midterm elections, nearly 25 percent of the nation’s governors will be women in 2023. Next year, 12 women across the country will serve as governor for their states, breaking the previous record of nine first set in 2004 and matched in 2007 and 2019. Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York elected female governors for the first time; incumbent governors won their reelections in Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and South Dakota, and Tina Kotek (D) of Oregon and Katie Hobbs (D) of Arizona won in tight races against other women.

Read the full story here.

 

Karen Bass becomes the first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles

Nadra Nittle, The 19^th*

Yesterday, Karen Bass made history by becoming the first woman, and the first Black woman, elected Mayor of Los Angeles. Bass defeated opponent Rick Caruso with53 percent of the vote. The last time a woman served as Mayor of Los Angeles was in 1915 when City Councilmember Estelle Lawton Lindsey was acting mayor of the city for 36 hours while the sitting mayor was out of town. Los Angeles has also had one Black mayor, Tom Bradley, who served from 1973 to 1993.,. With Bass becoming Mayor of Los Angeles next year, the nation’s four largest cities – New York, L.A., Chicago, and Houston – will all have Black leaders.

Read the full story here.

 

Patty Murray likely to be first female Senate president pro tem, 3rd in line for presidency

David Gutman and Jim Brunner, Seattle Times

Senator Patty Murray is likely to be the first woman to serve as Senate president pro tempore, a position that places her third in line for the presidency. In addition, Senator Murray will likely chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, Senator Schumer plans to nominate Murray. The responsibilities for the Senate president pro tempore include appointing the director of the Congressional Budget Office and Senate legislative and legal oaths. The Senate president pro tempore also presides over the Senate in the Vice President’s absence.

Read the full story here.

 

Abortion Was Front of Mind for Midterm Voters

Kathy Spillar, Ms. Magazine

As pollsters continue to collect data after the midterms, one conclusion they have quickly come to is that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and red state legislatures banning abortions were decisive issues in this election. This conclusion contrasts earlier predictions from researchers that abortion was not a prevalent topic for voters as compared to cost of living, crime, and immigration.

Read the full story here.