A councilwoman in Cedar Rapids has started a decade-long effort at electing more women to state and federal offices.
Councilwoman Monica Vernon started her 50-50 in 2020 group on Wednesday, saying "a century is long enough to wait." The group is a bipartisan, issue-neutral group with a top goal of having a female governor of Iowa by 2020. The Gazette newspaper in Cedar Rapids reports that 23 percent of the 150 Iowa legislators are women.
Iowa has not elected a woman to Congress or as governor. Vernon calls her effort a "strong nudge for women to get out and run" for office. The group has two co-chairwomen, Democrat Jean Lloyd-Jones of Iowa City and Republican Maggie Tinsman of Davenport. Both women are former legislators
