In 1987, when a group of feminists saw the need for a local political organization to further their issues, the United States was well into a period of conservative ascendancy. President Ronald Reagan was enjoying great popularity and the right wing was setting the national agenda. The Equal Rights Amendment had failed ratification in 1982, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was barely enforcing sexual discrimination cases. Anti-abortion campaigners across the country were picketing clinics, shutting them down, threatening doctors, and pushing through restrictive legislation.

Politically it was questionable whether there was a women’s vote different from men’s (a “gender gap”). A true gender gap had been evident in the 1980 elections, but four years later Reagan won 59 percent of the popular vote and 57 percent of the women’s vote. The nine women running for the Senate lost in 1984, as did 39 of 41 women running for House seats. The defeat of the Mondale-Ferraro ticket was generally characterized as a blow to the women’s movement, and the gender gap of 1980 was dismissed as an anomaly.

Successful politicians spoke of family values and endorsed traditional gender roles, even as they voted for a ballooning military budget and cut the funding for social programs that aided families. Feminists were put on the defensive in the face of public hostility. Pundits declared the end of feminism and coined the term “post-feminism.”

In this climate a small group of feminist women resolved to keep the movement alive, and formed the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee (SBWPC). They were astonished at the ready response to their opening event at Zelo’s, by now legendary in the organization, attended by 250 enthusiastic people with guest Betty Friedan, on January 27, 1988.

Looking back, we can see that in fact at the grassroots level, feminist ferment was working in many ways. In many vocational and professional fields women had formed organizations to fight discrimination and work for equal rights. Feminist concepts of sexual harassment, rape, and family violence had found their way into law and legal practice. These gains were anchored by women-run organizations on the local level — university and college women’s centers, as well as centers for reproductive choice, for rape crisis response, and to deal with family violence.

Women had organized politically, too. Except for the 1984 election, the gender gap turned out to be real and lasting. Women made up a majority of the electorate, and they voted differently from men. They were more likely than men to vote for social programs, gun control, and arms control and were against military expenditures and nuclear power. In the 1986 election women’s votes had made the margin of difference for victorious Democratic candidates in nine states. National organizations formed to finance women’s races were enjoying success: The Women’s Political Caucus, Emily’s List, and the Women’s Campaign Fund were bringing more women into public office.

Starting in the early years of a conservative ascendancy that remains strong to the present, the SBWPC has continued to do the groundwork necessary to get women into public office — women who will work for a more just society and environmental health; cultivate and prepare potential candidates; define, publicize, and lobby for the issues; and raise money and get out the vote for endorsed candidates.

The SBWPC enjoyed success from the very beginning. Two of its first endorsed candidates — Naomi Schwartz and Gloria Ochoa — became the first women ever elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. A third, Susan Rose, joined them at the next election. Sheila Lodge, Harriet Miller, Elinor Langer, Helene Beaver, and Marty Blum were all elected to the City Council with the SBWPC’s endorsement in the first five years after the founding. Successful politicians who decided to run after serving on the WPC’s board include Schwartz, Rose, Blum; current Santa Barbara City Councilmembers Helene Schneider and Iya Falcone; former Goleta City Councilmember Margaret Connell; Hannah-Beth Jackson, California Assembly; and Congressmember Lois Capps. Today the endorsement of the SBWPC is important to progressive candidates, both male and female, and the candidates continue to win elections.

Here’s to the next 20 years.

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