Gabrielle’s road-weary, blue Chevy F-10 Tahoe truck is plastered with stickers, including one for the National Rifle Association. Most days, she wears knee high rubber muck boots and a hoodie, but today, she’s accessorized with cubic zirconium earrings, a glittering necklace, and intense eye makeup. You’d never know she spent all morning in the barn, feeding and tending horses at Big Sky Farm out in Pungo. But don’t call her a redneck. The nineteen-year-old TCC student is fired up for a chat about her favorite passion: politics. She’s currently working on another Congressional campaign.

While Gabrielle Storm Hughes is free to participate in the system in 2010, Virginia’s political climate has not encouraged women, historically. Though the 19th amendment gave women in the United States their hard-fought right to vote in 1920, our state didn’t ratify it until 1952. Still, Virginia’s women voted and gathered and organized, learning all they could about issues, making changes in laws, and stepping into campaigns.

Thirty years later, a female mayor, Meyera Oberndorf, oversaw the growth and development of a city that was at one time the agricultural center of southeastern Virginia. Now, Virginia Beach has the state’s largest number of registered voters in one city, a thriving business climate, a perfect place for women to step onto the political stage.

“The government touches everything we do,” Gabrielle said, nodding, and added that most of her peers are not as involved with politics as she is.

“When I was at Kellam High School, people saw government as a boring subject,” Gabrielle explained. “But once you get involved in a campaign, and you see how it takes off, it’s just awesome, especially if your candidate wins.” At Kellam, she joined the Young Republicans Club, and she was recently appointed to the board of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach, one of the youngest members in the RPVB’s history.

Gabrielle is the only child of a single mom, and she’s gained a sense of independence from her mother’s example. She believes women often seek office because of what they can bring: compassion.

“What I’ve noticed is that women go into politics with a natural, maternal feeling,” Gabrielle said. “Men kind of touch base with children and women, but I think women focus more on that than on other issues,” she explained.

Being involved in politics has changed Gabrielle. Talking with total strangers as she canvassed for Robert McDonnell opened up conversations, adding to her social skills. She is selective about which candidate she’ll work for and is “not a big fan of those who bash their colleagues out of sight of the public.”

She says her main focus is the candidate, not the party. But she prefers to bring her varied perspectives on life and government to the Republican Party because she wants to see it change and diversify.

“The election of President Obama—whether or not you voted for him—brought a lot of young people to the political world,” she said. And she isn’t shy about admitting that she could see herself in office some day.

“As a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking about it for the last year,” she said with a big grin.

GUIDING VOTERS

For the last ninety years, a dedicated group of women has helped American voters participate more fully in politics. The League of Women Voters, which began in Richmond as the Equal Suffrage League, first empowered women as they sought equal voting rights with men. Once the group changed its name, it widened its mission to explore and bring awareness to issues the League sees as vital to the lives of citizens. The League doesn’t support candidates or parties, but it does educate itself and the general public.

Here in Hampton Roads, the League recently celebrated its 90th anniversary with a luncheon honoring the women elected to office from our region and applauded the work of those with more than 50 years of service. One of those members, Jennette Franklin of Norfolk, continues to serve on the board as the chair of the Gun Study committee. During each month, all of the Hampton Roads League units study a particular issue.

“This is my month,” Jennette said. “I’m on the Board of the Virginia Center for Public Safety. We came out with a proclamation last year, and said ‘You know, really, we have more gun violence in this country than in any western nation.’ It’s absurd. And then we gathered stats from local police departments and began asking ‘What would you like to see happen?’”

A reaction to a situation in our community is only the beginning. Once the League decides on a topic, there is intense study, collection of data, and public input. This kind of moderate, information-based activism produces positive results.

“You know, the League saved the Dismal Swamp,” Jennette said, with a touch of thoughtful pride. Members of the Environmental Quality committee were very concerned about the swamp. With the help of a “very forward looking Colonel,” they toured the waterways, learned more about the environmental damage, and, after a few years of study, hosted a public forum where people could share and offer suggestions. Eventually, the Nature Conservancy became involved, purchased land near the swamp from some of the companies responsible for pollution, and then eventually turned it over to the Fish and Wildlife Department.

Women with all kinds of concerns join the League. Current president Melanie Perez-Lopez is a social worker at St. Mary’s in Norfolk who was drawn to work with the League because of its focus on children at risk in the late 1970s. She has served on the board and in many other capacities ever since.

“The League way is education and action and is nonpartisan,” Melanie explained. “Whereas personally we may have very strong views, as a League we don’t.”

“There are issues that we study over the years, like the environment, the gun study, immigration, green space, and transportation, which we’re trying to get people to agree is basic to human needs,” Melanie added. The League is currently updating its position on agriculture.

Another important function of the League of Women Voters involves training members as part of the “Observer Corps,” attending municipal boards and committee meetings and helping the local units to identify community needs, issues, and trends. The League also prepares poll workers, who serve a special function during elections.

The League of Women Voters is truly a training ground for anyone who wants to understand more about political life, especially for those who plan to run for office. And all are welcome; men are members of the board of the Hampton Roads League. Motivated millennials can join the League with a $5.00/year student membership.

“Back when I joined the League in the late 1950s, we were mothers with young children, and we used to meet in homes. But so much is different now,” Jennette reflected. Today’s League of Women Voters units meet for breakfasts, luncheons, and evenings, making it easy for anyone to find the right meeting time and place—and a way to engage civic activism.

GROWING AS A LEADER

Many women like Jennette, Melanie, and Gabrielle have been drawn into politics partly to bring awareness to important issues, while others have found that the political world has drawn them to a greater sense of personal leadership and vision. Susan Mariner, 43, is the chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. A former sculpture artist with her own business for many years, Susan had always worked as a volunteer for civic and women’s organizations following the example of her parents who stressed the value of giving back to the community.

“I never would have envisioned myself in this position,” she said recently. But Susan watched as greater inequities were occurring for families because of the shrinking middle class. She decided that responding to issues one at a time wasn’t effective enough.

“At that point I thought I would try to have an impact on our political system. That was the way for me to help work for things that mattered to me—despite the fact that I never wanted to do it,” she said with a grin.

Susan started by volunteering in the 2004 presidential campaign, and though her candidate didn’t win, she was undaunted. She admits she had a difficult time with people’s strong reactions to her choice, especially because she says people often would argue loudly, calling her sense of patriotism into question. Those interchanges made her more confident, more able to deal with controversy.

“Now, I am comfortable with who I am, and it’s okay that we disagree,” she said. She worked on Governor Tim Kaine’s campaign, enjoying the result.

Then a year later, a tragedy brought Susan into the center of another campaign. A dear friend’s husband was killed in Iraq, leaving behind his wife, a three-year-old, and a five-month-old. Soon after that, Susan began reading some articles by Jim Webb. When Webb was drafted to run for the Senate, Susan decided to honor her friend’s memory.

“I felt that there would probably be nobody who would work harder to make certain that soldiers had all the proper body armor—because that was still an issue,” Susan said. “I had a lot of respect for [Webb] as an individual.”

In 2006, Susan and her husband agreed that she would commit six months to Webb’s campaign, working full time, leaving her small business. After that election, Susan was hired to work for the Democratic National Committee, as a regional organizer, and then served as the Political Chair for President Obama’s campaign in Virginia Beach.

With three children at home, she feels very fortunate that she is able to give so much of her time, passionately, to this work. Susan believes this is her time to put forth such energy. Yet she also believes that we all have something to offer—to a party or to a candidate—activating our own sense of civic responsibility.

“You can do something once a month, once every three months,” she said. “Any contribution you have, at any level is a good thing. Writing a letter to the editor about an issue is one of the best things people can do.”

Because of our gifts as community builders, Susan says women are particularly qualified to create circles of support, even developing kitchen campaigns, discussion groups, and contacts with our elected officials.

While Susan Mariner balances home and her intense work on behalf of candidates, young people build their civic connections as well. In mid-March, civics students in Virginia’s middle schools participated in The Center for the Constitution’s “We the People” program. Carson Dye, 13, a Lynnhaven Middle School student, prepared speeches with her team on a number of topics pertinent to the Constitution, deftly handling judges’ questions and sharing her own opinions about a variety of topics, including the health care debate.

“It was amazing and really fun,” said the teen, a member of the Virginia Children’s Chorus.

“I loved talking to the judges and giving my opinions—and, who knows, maybe I’ll run for Congress one day!”

It takes a village to keep our democracy working—both younger girls and women just learning about how the government works and women with experience, willing to step out and share their talents.

“Even though women are the majority, why are we are considered a minority?” asked Susan Mariner. “Because we are considered less powerful. But there are ways—and getting politically involved is one of them—to work on behalf of ourselves and our families.”

For more information:

• The League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads visit  www.lwv-shr.org

• The Democratic Party of Virginia Beach  www.vbdemocrats.org

• The Republican Party of Virginia Beach www.rpvb.org

• We, The People competition  www.center.montpelier.org