The Female Funding Gap: More Women Candidates, But Not Enough Campaign Cash
*By Christian Smith*
The Republican Party still has a lot of work to do when it comes to getting women involved in national politics, said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. It starts with money.
In an interview on Cheddar, Sarah Chamberlain said men are still bigger check-givers than women. And they tend to give to other men.
"The Republican party is primarily funded by men," she said.
Funding is essential to winning seats in Congress: More than $1.3 billion has already been spent on House races alone for the 2018 midterm elections according to the [Center For Responsive Politics](https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/).
Without proper funding, non-incumbent candidates typically don't have the resources to build the name recognition it takes to win an election ー which Chamberlain said is precisely what befell Ashley Nickloes in the race for the Republican nomination in Tennessee's 2nd District.
Nickloes raised [$150,000 in individual contributions](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/politics/women-campaign-fundraising.html) and received $100,000 from the Republican Main Street Partnership, which was just enough to air one TV ad in the district. She eventually placed third behind two men who out-raised her.
While the Republican Party may not have put forth as many female candidates for the House and Senate as the Democrats this year ー 59 to 197 ー Chamberlain hopes that will change by the next by election year.
"I really hope by 2020 and 2022, we are ready from the GOP side and we're ready to elect a lot more women to Congress, both the House and the Senate," Chamberlain said.
"Ladies, we are 51 percent of this country and our population," she said. "We have to get engaged, we have to turn out, we have to be willing to run, and we have to be willing to fund good female candidates when we find them."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-republican-main-street-partnership-ceo-sarah-chamberlain-says-there-is-a-gender-gap-in-political-fundraising).
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
After being among the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, restaurants are still having a hard time staying afloat, with owners claiming that business is worse now due to closures from staff shortages and customer decline than it was three months ago. Mike Whatley, vice president of state affairs and grassroots advocacy for the National Restaurant Association, spoke to Cheddar News about how the sector is reaching out to lawmakers for help. "Working with Senators Wicker, Sinema, and a whole host of bipartisan leaders, we're trying to get the Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished," Whatley said.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
The memoir, "COMPROMISED: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump", tells a familiar story from a bit of a different source: Peter Strzok himself, former FBI Counterintelligence Agents and Agency Veteran who spent most of his very long career investigating some of the most controversial inquiries, most notably in recent American history. Those inquiries were Hillary Clinton's email to even Trump Russia investigations. Former FBI Agent and Author of "Compromised" Peter Strzok, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden's first year did not come to the close that he had hoped after last night's Senate vote blocked the voting rights bill, a priority that Biden has promoted since his inauguration. Joining us to discuss the voting rights bill, and many others passing through congress is congresswoman Lori Trahan, representing Massachusett's 3rd district.
