Hillary Clinton would like to see more women in government around the world.

She said she knows “how daunting it is” for women to consider a public-service career, yet “we need women at every level of government from executive mansions and foreign ministries to municipal halls and planning commissions, from negotiation international disarmament treaties to debating town ordinances.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-16/clinton-seeks-women-leaders-to-tackle-our-biggest-problems-.html

State Rep. Jennifer L. Mann, D-Lehigh, announced today that she will not seek reelection in 2012 for an eighth term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

“Serving the people of my home town in the General Assembly has been an honor and privilege. However, the time has come for me to move on to new challenges and a new path,” Mann said. “I never intended the House of Representatives to be my career, but I am eternally grateful to the people of Allentown for putting their faith and confidence in me throughout my tenure.

Read more: http://www.pahouse.com/PR/132112811.asp

Here are the GOP-sponsored preliminary new maps of Pa. legislative districts. These proposed boundaries were approved by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission at Monday’s hearing. Both Republicans (PA Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi and House Majority Leader Mike Turzai) and Chairman Stephen McEwen voted in favor of these maps. Both Democrats (Sen. Minority Leader Jay Costa and House Minority Leader Frank Dermody) voted against.

These are preliminary, with the final product to be voted on after a 30 day period of public review. However, this is the framework that the LRC is working from.

Read More: http://www.politicspa.com/redistricting-watch-preliminary-pa-legislative-maps/29065/

Doylestown Supervisor Cynthia Philo, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully against state Senator Chuck McIlhinney in 2010, is considering a run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District, according to a report published by Roll Call on Tuesday.

Read More: http://www.politicspa.com/roll-call-report-democratic-doylestown-supervisor-exploring-run-for-congress-in-pa-8/28972/

Consider Frankenstein’s monster: a twisted, tortured amalgamate of parts and pieces lacking any inherent cohesion – an offense against God and man – and yet somehow, functioning.

With that in mind, perhaps it’s appropriate that the new Pa. legislative maps will be unveiled on Halloween.

According to multiple sources close to the process, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC) will hold a meeting on Monday, October 31st. They are said to be planning the vote on the new district maps for the Pa. House and Senate.

Read More: http://www.politicspa.com/redistricting-watch-pa-legislative-maps-to-be-unveiled-oct-31/28938/

WASHINGTON — The 2012 elections are likely to mark the new “year of the woman” in the Senate. Ten women — six of them incumbents — are presumed Democratic Senate nominees this year, and another is seriously considering a run. Republicans have one female senator, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, up for re-election, and one presumed nominee, Linda Lingle of Hawaii, that state’s former governor. Other women in both parties are engaged in primary fights.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/us/politics/women-could-have-banner-year-in-2012-election.html?_r=3&hp

Over the past several years, women running for office around the country have made headlines, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, to name a few. But these high-profile women obscure a sad truth: the percentage of American women holding public office remains dismally low. Today, women hold 24 percent of state legislative offices; 21 percent of the statewide offices; 17 percent of US Senate seats; 17 percent of the seats in the US House of Representatives and 12 percent of governorships.

Read More: http://bizchicks.org/2011/09/not-at-the-table-must-be-on-the-menu-…/

The Pennsylvania 2012 Project held its Western Pennsylvania Inaugural Conference on Friday in Downtown Pittsburgh. About two hundred community stakeholders attended to listen to a variety of speakers discuss the role of women in politics, the obstacles they face, and different ways to increase their numbers.

Read More: http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2011-09-23/women-should-be-more-involved-politics-say-panelists-7338

A panel charged with redrawing Pennsylvania’s legislative map was urged at a public hearing Wednesday to consider the impact of its revisions on the number of women serving in the state Capitol.

“Women may lose ground in this redistricting process,” said Dana Brown, the executive director of Chatham University’s Center for Women and Politics.

Read More: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2011/Sep/14/pa__redistricting_panel_urged_to_consider_gender.html