WUFPAC stands for Women Under Forty Political Action Committee.  Driven by a board of high-powered, politically active young women in Washington, D.C.  WUFPAC is the only non-partisan, non-issue based organization focused on electing young (under 40) women to state and federal office.

“Young women have a hard time breaking into the long-time political party establishments when they decide to run for office,” said WUFPAC President, Jessica Grounds.  “We provide young women with the financial resources and support network they need to run competitive campaigns.”

Founded in 1999, WUFPAC has been active in campaigns since 2002.  The organization has 4,000 supporters and has been actively involved in races across the country.  They are working this year to branch out and support local and state level candidates focusing their attention on five key states:  Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington and Arizona.  WUFPAC endorsed 11 women for Congress in 2008, four incumbents and seven challengers.  In 2006 the organization endorsed 12 candidates for Congress. 

“Younger women face a double whammy when it comes to running for public office.  First, they face the challenge of being a woman which has its own set of challenges, and second, they are young—often too young to be considered credible as a candidate or capable of commanding challenging issues,” said Grounds.  “We need the voices and the viewpoints that younger women bring to the table.  Their perspectives on families, childcare, health issues and the economy need to have representation among our lawmakers. 

Statistics

So far the number of women under 40 elected to Congress is 38.  The youngest woman ever to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was Elizabeth Holtzman (D-NY).   She was elected in 1972 at age 31.  The youngest Senator was Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR) elected at the age of 38.  The first woman ever elected to Congress was 36-year-old Jeannette Rankin (R-MT).  Click here to read about the new DVD available on the life of Congresswoman Rankin.

“Our system of government rewards seniority and unless we encourage women to get involved at an earlier level, we won’t see many women in positions of leadership in Congress or in state legislatures,” added Grounds. 

In 2007, Susannah Shakow, WUFPAC’s founder and former President along with Jessica Grounds formed Running Start, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating young women about the importance of running for elected office.  Among other programs, Running Start offers a political training program for high school girls.  This is the third year for the high school program and 30,000 applications were received for only 50 spots. 

To learn more about WUFPAC and to contribute, visit  http://www.wufpac.org