Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt and VA NOW President Connie Cordovilla:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The results of the Virginia elections are a resounding affirmation of the power of grassroots action.  NOW made electing a Virginia legislature that will protect women a top priority, and our members did what they do best.  They organized, networked, knocked on doors, volunteered in campaigns, took voters to the polls—whatever it took to win this much-needed victory for Virginia—especially for Virginia women. 

The new Democratic leadership of the legislature has pledged to bring ratification of the ERA back for a vote, after it fell just one vote short earlier this year.  A constitutional amendment requires ratification by two-thirds of the state legislatures—or 38–and Virginia’s vote will achieve that goal. 

NOW works at both the national and state levels to achieve enduring change and strengthen women’s rights. Our victory in Virginia opens the curtain on a year of electoral activism unlike anything in NOW’s history.  Our members are fired up and ready to go to put equality, reproductive rights and women’s justice at the front of the political agenda in 2020—and make Donald Trump a one-term President. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745