When Women Win: EMILY's List and the Rise of Women in American Politics

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Mariner Books, 2017 - History - 384 pages
"A must-read, sure to engage. . . An important and richly narrated reminder to women of why, 'If you not at the table, you're on the menu.'"
--Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing.com and author of Full Frontal Feminism

"Women had to fight first for the vote, and then for the right to be voted for. No one, but no one, has been more crucial to this ongoing struggle than Ellen Malcolm, and no one has more revealing stories to tell, her own plus those of women candidates in all our diversity. When Women Win will give you faith that this country might one day become a democracy." --Gloria Steinem


In 1985, aware of the near-total absence of women in Congress, Ellen Malcolm launched EMILY's List, a powerhouse political organization that seeks to ignite change by getting women elected to office. The rest is riveting history: since then, EMILY's List has helped elect 23 women Senators, 12 governors, and 116 Democratic women to the House. When Women Win delivers stories of some of the toughest political contests of the past three decades, including the historic victory of Barbara Mikulski as the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right and Elizabeth Warren's dramatic Senate win. When Women Win is both a page-turning political drama and an important look at the effects of women's engagement in politics.

"Both a rip-roaring political tale and an inspirational blueprint--with every trade secret revealed--of how and why Democratic women have been on the rise in electoral politics for three decades." --Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader

"Superwoman Ellen R. Malcolm, with Craig Unger, heroically continues to beat the drum for female equality in When Women Win." --Vanity Fair

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About the author (2017)

ELLEN R. MALCOLM is the founder and chair of EMILY's List, one of the most successful political organizations in the country. She lives in Washington, D.C. Craig Unger is the New York Times bestselling author of five books on the Republican Party's assault on democracy. The former editor in chief of Boston Magazine, he was also a contributing editor for Vanity Fair where he covered national security and foreign affairs. His work has appeared in many other publications including New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Esquire, The Guardian, The New York Times, Washington Post, and The New Republic. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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