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History of Ready To Run™

Catt Center for Women and Politics

Ready to Run History

In 1998, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University established Ready to Run: Campaign Training for Women™ to encourage women in New Jersey to seek public office. Ready to Run™ is a bi-partisan effort to recruit and train women to run for all levels of office. Since its inception, almost 1,000 women have attended Ready to Run™ New Jersey, and the results are clear:

• More than a quarter of Ready to Run™ participants have run for office, and more than 70% of those who ran won their elections!
• Almost a quarter of the women in New Jersey's legislature have attended Ready to Run™. When Ready to Run™ started in 1998, the state ranked in the bottom third of all states for the proportion of women in its legislature. Now New Jersey ranks 12th.

In 2007, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University was invited to join the Ready to Run™ National Training Network. Some 45 women attended Ready to Run™ Iowa on June 1, 2007. Six participants - three Democrats and three Republicans - ran as challengers for the Iowa Legislature in 2008, and one won her race. Other participants ran for local office, including mayor; sought appointment to local, county and state boards and commissions; or became involved with a political party and/or campaign. In 2009, some 60 people - including women and men; Democrats, Republicans and Independents; college students; Iowans and residents of Illinois and Wisconsin - attended Ready to Run™ Iowa on April 3. Almost half of the 2009 Ready to Run™ Iowa participants indicated that they planned to run for the state legislature, county board of supervisors, county attorney, mayor, city council or school board in the near future. Others expressed interest in seeking appointment to a state or local board or commission, becoming more active in a political party, or working on a political campaign.

Based on the success of the 2007 and 2009 Ready to Run™ Iowa workshops and the state's below average performance in electing women to state and national office, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is committed to offering this one-day, comprehensive, bi-partisan campaign training workshop every other year. The next Ready to Run™ Iowa workshop will be presented in spring 2011.