User:Allison275/Women in the Montana government

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Despite recent increases in representation, women continue to be underrepresented within the Montana state government. There has only been one female Governor in the state of Montana, and there have been only three female Lieutenant Governors. While there is strong representation of women in the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction, there has never been a female Attorney General for the state. Additionally, neither Montana's Judicial Branch nor the Legislative Branch have reached parity, despite recent increases in representation. While representation has increased in Montana's government, it still has not reached parity, nor is it representative of Montana's population. This article will touch on the history of representation of women in the state of Montana and within Montana government. Additionally, it highlights key women who have been the firsts in their fields and have represented women in Montana's branches of government.

History of women in Montana politics
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. She was elected to one of Montana's two United States House seats in the United States House of Representatives in 1916, which was two years after white women were given the right to vote in Montana, and four years before women were nationally enfranchised in the 19th Amendment. Serving as a Republican, she was a dedicated pacifist and self-proclaimed progressive, which she represented during her term in Congress. In 1917, she was one of fifty House Members to vote against the entry of the United States into World War 1, which then prevented her from gaining reelection in 1918. In 1941, the second time she was elected to the House, then representing the state of Georgia, she was the only member to vote against United States entry into World War 2. Once again, her pacifist values cost her reelection. There has not been another woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from Montana since Rankin was voted in in 1916.

Helen Clarke and Alice Nichols were the first women elected to any public office in Montana in 1882, both as county school superintendents. Since then, the majority of county superintendents in Montana have been women.

Executive Branch
Overall, women are largely underrepresented in Montana's Executive Branch of government. There has been the most representation for women as Superintendent of Public Instruction. The current Superintendent of Public Instruction is a woman, Elsie Arntzen. First elected in 2016, she is now in her second term in the position. Prior to serving in this position, she served in the Montana Legislature -- both in the House and the Senate -- as a Republican. The position of Superintendent of Public Instruction has overall shown the most representation for women in any executive branch position for the Montana government. Since 1889, six of the Superintendents of Public Instruction have been men, and the remaining other 11 who have served have been women. The first woman to be elected to the position was Mary Trumper in 1916, who went on to serve for 12 years. During her term, she instituted many reforms that female county superintendents had been proponents for, such as improved teacher training and certificate exams and the statewide mandated 180 day school term. Five of the six men elected to the position were before the appointment of Mary Trumper; following her term, all but one of the Superintendents of Public Instruction have been women. Women have been largely underrepresented in the position of Governor in the state of Montana; the state of Montana has only seen one female Governor out of the total 25 who have been elected as Governor in Montana. The only woman elected to the position of Governor in Montana was Republican Judy Martz, who held office from 2001-2005, and did not seek a second term. She is known for her income and capital gains tax cuts, as well as a budget surplus at the end of her term. Additionally, Martz led the push for the federal Healthy Forest Act amongst fellow Governors. Prior to serving as Governor, Martz was the first woman in Montana to serve as Lieutenant Governor under Republican Governor Marc Racicot from 1997-2001, immediately before she ran for Governor herself.

Women have been largely underrepresented in the position of Lieutenant Governor, having only seen three female Lieutenant Governors out of the total 37 people who have served in the position. The current Lieutenant Governor of Montana is a Republican woman, Kristan Juras. She has served since 2021, and is a lawyer who had previously run for the Montana Supreme Court in 2016, but was unsuccessful. The first Lieutenant Governor was Republican Judy Martz, who served in the position from 1997-2001. The first female Democrat Lieutenant Governor was Angela McLean, who served as Lieutenant Governor from 2014-2015 under Governor Steve Bullock. She resigned from the position in 2015 because of her impending appointment to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

The current Montana Secretary of State is a woman, Republican Christi Jacobsen serving as the 22nd Montana Secretary of State. Of the 22 people who have served in the position, there have been two women. The first was Democrat Linda McCulloch who became the first female Secretary of State from 2009-2017. McCulloch previously served in the Montana House of Representatives and as a Superintendent of Public Instruction. There has never been a female Attorney General in the state of Montana. However, the first woman to run for Attorney General in Montana was Ella Knowles. Following her successful lobbying of the 1889 Montana Legislature to allow women to take the bar exam, Knowles became be first lawyer in the state of Montana and the first female notary. She was the first woman to run for Montana Attorney General on the 1982 populist ticket.

Legislative Branch
Despite continued increase in representation of women in the Montana Legislature, women remain underrepresented in both the Montana House and Senate Chambers. Since 1971, there has been a stead increase in women's representation in the Legislature. From 1971, when women made up 1.3% of the total makeup of the Legislature, to making up 32% in 2021, there has been a steady, observable increase in women's representation. However, the state still lacks parity in Legislative descriptive representation. As of 2021, 49.7% of the Montana population was women; therefore, women remain underrepresented in the Montana Legislature. The 2021 Legislative session saw more women's representation in the House, although still not enough to represent the overall Montana population. 36% of the Montana House was female, while 24% of the Montana Senate was female. This is a significant increase in representation since 1989, when 21% of the House was female, while 12% of the Senate was female. In every legislative session, there was more representation of women in the House than in the Senate.

Emma Ingalls and Maggie Smith Hathaway were the first women elected to the Montana House of Representatives in 1916, Ingalls as a Republican and Hathaway as a Democrat shortly after women's suffrage in Montana in 2014. In the 67th Legislative Session (2021), both the House Majority Leader and Minority Leader were women, Republican Sue Vinton as Majority Leader and Democrat Kim Abbott as Minority Leader. The first woman in House leadership was in 1979, with Democrat Ann Mary Dussault serving as Minority Leader. Marian Hanson was the first Republican woman in House leadership, serving from 1993-1997 as Speaker Pro Tempore. In 1999, Emily Swanson served as House Minority leader, followed in 2001 by Kim Gillan. In 2007, a second Republican woman served as Speaker Pro Temper, Debby Barrett. Jenny Eck served as Minority Leader in 2017. In total since 1889, eight women have served in Montana House leadership. There has never been a female House Speaker.

In the 67th Legislative session (2021), of the four Senate leadership positions, only the Senate Minority Leader was a woman, Democrat Jill Cohenour. The first woman in the Montana Senate leadership was Democrat Carroll Graham in 1975, who served as President Pro Tem. The next woman to serve in Senate leadership was Democrat Carol Williams, who served three legislative sessions in leadership, from 2007 as Minority Leader to 2009-2011 as Minority Leader. The first Republican woman in Senate leadership was in 2013, with Debby Barrett serving as President Pro Tem. She served again in 2015 as Senate President. In total, there have been four women since 1889 that have served as Senate Leadership in any capacity.

Judicial Branch
Currently in 2022, there is near parity on the Montana Supreme Court. Three of the seven members of the Montana Supreme Court are women, or 43% of the Montana Supreme Court Justices. The three women currently serving the Montana Supreme Court are Justice Laurie McKinnon, who has served since 2013; Justice Beth Baker, who has served since 2011, and Justice Ingrid Gustafson, who has served since 2018. The current Chief Justice is not a woman. Despite the near parity that is present on today's court, of 105 total Justices of the Montana Supreme Court, only 6 of them have been women. The first woman to serve on the Montana Supreme Court was Diane Barz, who served 1989-1991. Karla Gray, who served 1991-2000, was the first Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court from 2001-2008. Patricia Cotter was a Justice 2001-2016.