One recent evening we were invited to dinner at a friend’s house. Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow was at the table as well. She asked about the The Kitchen Sisters and we told her about some of our radio work — Fugitive Waves, Hidden Kitchens, The Hidden World of Girls…
“The Hidden World of Girls?” she said, and proceeded to tell us about 10 trailblazing women who are running for the US Senate, women who could make some history. Our intern Zoe Kurland and colleague Brandi Howell heard Senator Stabenow’s story and created these portraits of the candidates.
Senator Stabenow:
“When we look at this group of women running for the US Senate in 2016 we have the potential of adding Asian-Americans, Latina and African-American perspectives through electing these women.
“Catherine Cortez Masto, running for Harry Reid’s seat in Nevada, would be the first Latina in the US Senate, should she win. Ann Kirkpatrick, running against John McCain in Arizona. In Iowa, Patty Judge is running against Senator Chuck Grassley. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth from Illinois is of Thai descent who served in the US Department of Veteran Affairs and was a helicopter pilot during the war in Iraq who lost both legs and an arm in the war. Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire, Deborah Ross in North Carolina, Patty Murray in Washington, Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania, and in California, State Attorney General Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez are both running for Barbara Boxer’s seat.
“More women in the Senate creates a richness of perspective and experiences that is invaluable in a democracy and will have impact for decades to come.”