Women in politics rise nationwide, DeKalb in primary election

16th Congressional District Democratic candidates Amy “Murri” Briel, Sara Dady, Neill Mohammad and Beth Vercolio-Osmund discuss their positions at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., Feb. 19.

16th Congressional District Democratic candidates Amy “Murri” Briel, Sara Dady, Neill Mohammad and Beth Vercolio-Osmund discuss their positions at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., Feb. 19.

By Batul Cutlerywala

DeKALB — A surge of women, who were inspired by past election cycles and have made the decision to run for political seats, can be seen right in DeKalb’s own 16th Congressional District.

There were 19 women who ran for congressional and statewide positions in 2014, according to data collected by the Center for American Women and Politics. This year, there are 27 female candidates and three are within the 16th Congressional District.

The candidates who are part of the 16th district’s surge of women in politics are Amy Briel, Sara Dady and Beth Vercolio-Osmund.

Deb Booth, chair of the 2018 Election Group, a subdivision of local women’s civil rights group DeKalb Stands, said her group is actively accommodating Democrats to contest President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“[Many women] assumed that Hillary would win, and we took it for granted because Trump seemed so unfit to take office in so many ways,” Booth said. “I think that there is a very strong sense among people that we weren’t active enough, we didn’t work hard enough.”

Booth said the group has been hosting different events within the 16th Congressional District to better connect constituents with the Democratic candidates vying for incumbent U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s seat.

She said this is the first time each woman running for Kinzinger’s seat has ran in an election.

Dady said women and issues important to them are underrepresented in Congress and are not being addressed.

“[Women] have less than 20 percent of the seats in Congress, and we make up more than half of the population in the United States,” Dady said.

After Trump took office, there was pre-emptive disregard to women in America because they feel overlooked, Dady said. She said the movement is occurring at a unique time in American history, which happens to be the right moment for women to take a stand and be understood.

“The silver lining of Trump’s election is there is going to be a lot more people participating, voting, running for office, paying attention, and that makes us all better off,” Dady said.

The number of women who are running for office want to make an authentic difference and improve overall life for the nation, Dady said.

Briel said women tend to think about how actions affect others and what consequences those actions would bring. She said men tend to think linear — a problem has only one solution and finding the most efficient way to get to the resolution.

She said women feel attacked on issues, such as gun control, education, women’s health and personal liberty, and lack representatives who address women’s issues when speaking in Congress.

“If there is one thing Trump administration has done for us, is it made us awake,” Briel said. “It opened our eye to what’s always been there, and many people didn’t know it was always there.”

Vercolio-Osmund said the leaders in local organizations and neighborhoods for ages have been women. They have come to realize after stepping up and finding courage that running for a position in the government does not require some unknown insight.

“I think that so many things have happened in politics and in our culture in recent years that women are realizing that not only do they have the right to be at the table and to be a voice in the conversation, but they have the responsibility,” Vercolio-Osmund said.

Vercolio-Osmund said she had considered running in past elections, but the current path of the country at the behest of the Trump administration motivated her to finally run for the congressional seat.

“[With] the sheer disappointment and frustration with the direction that our national government has taken, I decided it was time to revisit initial thoughts of jumping into politics,” Vercolio-Osmund said.

Tim Kirsininkas, former NIU College Democrats president, said politics has been known as a “boy’s club,” but women who are running for leadership positions are setting an example for the next generation of female leaders.

“These women are not only doing it for themselves, they are running to be trail blazers and kind of set the stage for the next generation of upcoming female leaders to take on the roles that they are running for,” Kirsininkas said. “It has been very inspiring to see women stand out there, using their voices and calling people out and just making sure we are working toward a more diversified nation.”