Virginia Gov.-elect assembles a majority-female Cabinet, a first for Virginia
Ralph Northam announced his last Cabinet pick
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Fenit Nirappil.
Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam (D) has assembled the first majority-female Cabinet in state history.
Out of 15 Cabinet-level positions, eight will be held by women.
On Tuesday, Northam announced the last of his Cabinet picks. He tapped Esther Lee, an economic development official and formerly an official in President Barack Obama’s administration, to serve as secretary of commerce.
Pending approval by the legislature, Lee would be the eighth woman in the Cabinet.
“Our commonwealth’s diversity is our strength, which is why I made a commitment to building a Cabinet that reflects it,” Northam said in a statement.
Virginia also elected a record number of women to the state legislature in November: Twenty-eight will be seated Wednesday, up from 17 currently serving. Still, only one woman has ever been elected to statewide office in Virginia: former attorney general Mary Sue Terry (D).
Other Cabinets
- In November, Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie, who also vowed that his Cabinet would reflect Virginia’s diversity. The Democrat, who is a pediatric neurologist, carried female voters by 22 points.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assembled a cabinet that was half female when he took office three years ago. Asked about the importance of gender, he simply said, “because it’s 2015.”
- In the 2016 presidential race, Democrat Hillary Clinton vowed that her Cabinet would be half female.
- President Trump has five women serving in 23 Cabinet-level positions; the most ever was 9 out of 22 in Bill Clinton’s second term, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
