Perhaps the rest of the country should take a lesson from the California political arena.  While the national Democratic primaries continue to fight over the presidential nomination going to a woman or an African-American, we have solved that issue.  Last week our State Assembly elected District 47 Assemblywoman Karen Bass as Speaker of the Assembly, by a unanimous decision that crossed all racial, cultural and partisan lines.  Now that’s multiculturalism!

As the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST, an organization dedicated to electing women to California state government, we know all too well that this is exactly the kind of diversity that is so vital to a living Democracy.

We are steadfast believers in diversity, especially when it comes to issues of gender. CALIFORNIA LIST is proud to have played a crucial role in the victories of candidates like Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Board of Equalization members Betty Yee and Board Chair Judy Chu, and now Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass.

Yet, even in the triumph of these women, we recognize the number of women holding public office is in an enormous decline, falling further in this past election cycle to just 28% of all state elected offices. Women are becoming represented by women less frequently in politics and with the decline go the champions of issues women hold most dear – education, health care, environmental protection, and reproductive choice to name a few.

The CALIFORNIA LIST works to level the playing field for women because we know women affect those changes that make a difference.  We salute the success of Assemblywoman Karen Bass, a woman we helped elect, a woman who has built her political career one brick at a time on a solid foundation of initiating policies that are changing lives.  Her life has been filled with many accomplishments and now she can add one more; the first African American woman to be elected the Speaker of the California State Assembly.  Normally, one would think this an extraordinary feat for a first term assembly member, but Assemblywoman Bass is an extraordinary woman.

Working with a feminine understanding, Bass knows the importance of securing economic justice for women. Her legislative record includes supporting increased funding for child care programs, such as Head Start. Bass also supports domestic violence prevention programs, and tougher laws to protect victims.  Bass’ Select Committee on Foster Care was formed in November 2005. Since then, the committee has held public hearings with groups including foster children, relative caregivers, child welfare agencies and representatives from group homes.

In 2006, Bass along with then Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, introduced groundbreaking legislation to revamp our state’s ailing foster care system.  Bass authored perhaps the most crucial bill AB 2216: Child Welfare Leadership and Performance Accountability Act.  AB2216 creates a structure for leadership and accountability for all who provide foster-care services by calling on the state to review ways to unify counties, courts and the state.

Assemblywoman Bass has forever etched her name in the political annals of California, but fortunately she is not a feminine anomaly.  CALIFORNIA LIST is currently supporting 27 women candidates running in the 2008 election cycle for State Senate and Assembly seats who are spotlighted on our website. We congratulate Assemblywoman Bass and hope that her example will inspire future generations of women who aspire to make a difference.

Bettina Duval is the founder of the California List, a political fundraising network that helps elect Democratic women to all branches of California state government.