OK Ranks 4th Lowest For Women Legislators
Oklahoma’s ratio of women in Legislature among nation’s lowest
Women make up a slight majority of Oklahomans, but that doesn’t translate into representation in the Legislature and Congress.
BY CHASE COOK and DARREN JAWORSKI — Oklahoma Watch | Published: April 9, 2013 Oklahoman
Oklahoma has the fourth-lowest percentage of female legislators in the nation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
There are four women among 48 Senate members, and 16 women among 101 House members. Altogether, women make up 13.4 percent of the state’s legislators, slightly ahead of Alabama, South Carolina and Louisiana. States with the largest shares of women are Colorado, 42 percent, and Vermont, 41 percent.
In Congress, a record number of women — 98, or 18 percent — took office in January, but Oklahoma was not part of that trend. The state’s delegation has no women.
Women comprise 51 percent of Oklahoma’s population.