Conversations with the CTGCA Team: Volunteer Recruiters Jackie Wheeler and Kathy Torgersen
CTGCA Volunteer Recruiters Jackie Wheeler and Kathy Torgersen discuss what drew them to political work, why the women elected to the California State Legislature give them hope, and more.
California women will make history in 2022! And whenever history is made, there are ALWAYS plenty of unsung sheroes behind the scenes.
This summer, we want to sing about/shine a light on two of those tireless sheroes, whose work to identify and prepare talented women candidates in the Bay Area years ahead of elections is paying off big time in 2022.
Jackie Wheeler and Kathy Torgersen have given beyond generously of their time and talent since the very early days of Close the Gap. Thanks to super-volunteers like them, one in every 3 women serving in the Legislature will be a Close the Gap Recruit by the end of the year! They are the Recruiters behind two women already serving in the State Legislature– Asm. Mia Bonta and Asm. Lori Wilson– and they also guided multiple superstars of the 2022 cycle through Close the Gap’s unique Exploration Process, including Aisha Wahab in SD 10 and Gail Pellerin in AD 28.
One reason Jackie and Kathy’s work to prepare winning women for legislative campaigns is so impactful this year in particular is because of the fantastic odds for NorCal women to drive progress for the whole state on representation. Just a year ago this month, Jackie authored an email to Close the Gap supporters, sounding the alarm on just how far behind the Bay Area’s legislative delegation is on gender balance– at that time, only 4 of the Bay Area’s 25 state legislators was a woman, and only 1 of those was a woman of color.
Fast-forward to a year later, and Jackie and Kathy’s recruiting work with Mia Bonta and Lori Wilson helped increase women’s Bay Area numbers to 6, half now women of color. What’s more, every seat they prepared an outstanding woman to win in 2022 will be a pick-up opportunity for women, since all the open seats in NorCal are to succeed outgoing men. Three cheers for Jackie and Kathy, two powerful mavens behind California’s growing momentum on the #PathtoParity!
This interview has been edited for brevity. We interviewed members from our team to learn about their roots in the gender equality movement. To learn more about our Interview Series and read other pieces like this, please click here.
What drew you to political work? What inspired you to continue?
JW: Growing up I had a fair understanding of what was going on with world and local events. My father was a journalist, but I don’t recall political discussions. My mother, an avid volunteer, always worked at the polls on election day. She left at 5:00 AM and came home very late. My parents had a strong sense of democracy and the importance of our political system. I thought that was normal for everyone. I recall going to see Dewey speaking from the back of the train on a whistle stop tour. It was very exciting to see a potential President.
In college, I was active in student government and a member of the leadership training council. It was an exciting time of change and I started to pay attention to national politics. I did some work on the Presidential campaign, although annoyed that I could not vote.
As one of only two women in the business marketing program I experienced hypocrisy and sexism from my professors. They made it obvious that they did not think women belonged. It made me a strong believer in women’s rights — we should be at the table. Recruiting progressive women to run for the legislature is a perfect passion for me.
After college my interest in politics grew. I joined a League of Women Voters. Besides studying issues I enjoyed becoming a Registrar. We moved to Texas where I helped start a LWV chapter. I was amazed that some people had to pay a poll tax to register to vote. It was great to be a part of a group of active, involved women who cared about our democracy. I soon was participating in campaigns. In some capacity I have been an activist ever since.
KT: I’ve always been drawn to politics because I believe that’s how we can change the world. I know that sounds idealistic, but how can you make things better unless you elect qualified leaders with unquestioned integrity, and vision? Where can you direct your energies and your talents that have the greatest impact on society? The answer for me is working on political campaigns to elect good people. I’m not a person who would ever consider running for office, but I recognize talent when I see it. And most often I see that talent, commitment, vision and integrity in women. Women, I find — for the most part — are not in it for themselves, they’re in it for the greater good.
I’ve always been interested in politics and political campaigns, even as a little kid. I grew up in the fifties in a German neighborhood in Chicago during the era of machine politics and Mayor Richard J. Daley. Everyone knew their precinct captain. If your sewer was backed up, you didn’t call a plumber, you called your precinct captain. If you needed a parking ticket fixed, your precinct captain was your go-to guy.
But as a naïve fourth grader, I didn’t know how Chicago machine politics worked. I just wanted to be a good citizen, so I designed a Get-Out-the-Vote flyer on construction paper, and ran it off on the mimeograph in the principal’s office.
Then with my roller skates clamped on my saddle shoes and the skate key around my neck, I rolled through my neighborhood dropping a flyer at every house in my precinct. Unfortunately, I had sent voters to the wrong polling place, and it wasn’t long before the precinct captain found out who was responsible and called my Dad.
“We hear it was your daughter who dropped off those flyers and told everybody to go to the Episcopal Church, and that isn’t the polling place!” He was livid. Sending voters to the wrong polling place meant he didn’t make his quota of voters for Daley, and it probably cost him his job. That small snafu made an impression on me that I’ve never forgotten — that an inaccuracy or misrepresentation multiplied by many can have huge political consequences.
How did your family and community shape your views?
JW: I became aware of social and racial injustice in first or second grade in Berkeley, CA. A Black family moved into our all-white area. Their daughter was in my class, and we became friends. My mother and grandmother were not accepting and were concerned about our friendship. I could go to my friend Anita’s house but there was always some excuse why she wasn’t invited to my house. When it was time for my birthday party, I wanted to invite my friends including Anita. My mother and grandmother did not think that was a good idea. My dad was accepting of all people and cultures, so we had a family meeting. He offered 3 options — 1) No party, 2) only invite Anita, or 3) invite the entire class. It was a wonderful party with the entire class. Having my dad stand up for my view that Anita was no different than my other friends made a big impression on me.
KT: Although we lived only 20 minutes from Chicago’s enormous and bustling downtown, we still were only a bike ride away from vast open spaces and forest preserves. So most weekends my Dad, who was an avid outdoorsman, and I hiked through the woods catching butterflies, biked along the Des Plaines River, and camped on the beach at Lake Michigan. In the winter we skated the rivers and across frozen ponds and lakes. He instilled in me a love of the natural world and a sense of adventure. My Dad’s day job was being a lobbyist for the Bicycle Institute of America. He was credited with creating hundreds of miles of bike paths across America including the bike path from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument and the many Rails to Trails bike paths in Wisconsin, Oregon and Illinois. But when it came to politics, that was a different matter altogether. Both my parents were conservative republicans with a very narrow world view, and their efforts to influence me in that direction had the opposite effect. I remember as a junior in high school, I had the chance to study in Bogota, Colombia. But that opportunity was met with an emphatic ‘no’. They were very protective and old-fashioned about the role of women. Why would I want to leave home to live in a foreign country where I couldn’t speak the language? It was an anathema to them. I understood they wanted to keep me close for fear that if they let me go I might not come back, but the harder they tried to rein me in, the more I wanted to bolt. And as fate would have it, that’s what happened. When my boyfriend graduated from the University of Illinois, accepted a job at Sandia Labs in Livermore, California, and asked me to marry him, I said ‘yes’. The rest is history. Fifty-five years later, I’m still here with the same boyfriend who is my dear husband, Mike.
What gives you hope for California’s future?
KT: Because of the on-going work of Close the Gap, we have more women in the California Legislature than at any time in history. That gives me hope that progressive values and priorities will continue to rule the day in our state. Close the Gap is leading that vanguard by cultivating and recruiting dynamic, qualified women for careers in public service. Having built and honed their leadership and policy chops in Sacramento, many of them will go on to achieve national prominence as governors, representatives, senators, and presidential candidates.
It will be these extraordinary California women who, I believe, will be the future of this country.
JW: Seeing an increased variety of candidates running for office from a few years ago is incredibly hopeful. Organizations like Close the Gap are making a difference.
Young, diverse, passionate, smart women wanting to run gives me hope that things are changing.
The issues they bring to the table are critical for a just society. As this replicates nationally we will have a better nation and world.
Close the Gap California is committed to building on progressive women’s historic momentum by recruiting them statewide and achieving equality in California by 2028. Join us!
About Close the Gap California
Close the Gap California (CTGCA) is a statewide campaign launched in 2013 to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028. By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTGCA is changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time.
Nearly one in every three women members in the Legislature is a CTGCA Recruit. Our Recruits are committed to reproductive justice, quality public education, and combatting poverty, and 11 of 12 serving today are women of color.
