“Mission 2012: Elect More Women than ever in South Carolina” On Wednesday, September 7, 2011, a coalition of women’s groups gathered at the State House in Columbia to call for South Carolina’s women to “Take Your Seat” and run for elected offices at all levels of government during the 2012 election cycle. The event “Mission 2012: Elect More Women than ever in South Carolina” was sponsored by the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics (SEIWIP) along with other local and statewide women’s organizations.

“I’d like to thank the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics (SEIWIP) and the coalition of other organizations who have come together for their work,” said Governor Nikki Haley. “South Carolina ranks lowest in the country in women serving in office because women don’t run, and that has to change.”

Jennet Robinson Alterman, Center for Women According to the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, a definite “gender gap” exists in the number of women who participate as leaders in the political process. South Carolina ranks last in the nation in terms of women in public office. There are only 16 women currently serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives and no women in the Senate. South Carolina is only state in the nation with a single-gender chamber.

“The near-absence in women input into critical decisions of the 21st century is a monumental waste to one of South Carolina’s most valuable resources and a staggering affront to women, who make up 51.3% of the state’s population. With the cooperation of existing major women’s groups in the state, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics plans to narrow this political gender gap and help women take their rightful place as powerful political leaders.” (SEIWIP)

Mary Anne Jacobs, Government Relations for Time Warner Cable and SEIWIP Board Member “Women bring unique perspectives to public policy decisions. We are business executives and educators, but we are also moms and wives,” said event moderator Heather Hoopes Matthews, director of Strategic Initiatives for Nexsen Pruet. “We have sat in the folding chairs at soccer games, the teeny chairs in parent- teacher conferences, and at the kitchen table, and now the time is ripe to take a political seat.”

Mary Anne Jacobs, senior director Government Relations for Time Warner Cable and SEIWIP Board Member concluded, “2012 offers a unique opportunity to begin fixing the gender discrepancy at the policymaking table and the SEIWomen, WIP is working in conjunction with groups across the state to find candidates and train them to win.”

If you or a woman you know is interested in running for office, contact the SEIWIP by email at info@scelects women.com or phone at 803-741-5644. The SEIWIP is the only 501 (c )(3) in the Southeast that is certified by the International Revenue Service to encourage and train women to run for office and become more deeply involved in politics. contact www.scelects women.com.

Other sponsoring organizations for the “Mission 2012” event were League of Women Voters of South Carolina, The Alliance for Women, South Carolina Women Lawyers, the Center for Women, the Coalition of South Carolina Healthy Families, Margaret Seidler, Vision 2020, Junior League of Columbia, The Women’s & Gender Studies Partnership Council, Columbia Business & Professional Women, Florence Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Motherhood Priority, Palmetto Center for Women, and the American Association of University Women- SC.