Close the Gap California was launched in 2013 with a mission to achieve gender parity in the California Legislature by 2028. Just over ten years later, women hold just over 48% of seats in the legislature and achieved gender parity in the senate for the first time as a result of election 2024. The gains for Democratic women, the target of Close the Gap’s work, have been even more striking. From 2013 to 2024, the number of Democratic women state legislators in California has more than doubled and women are now more than half of all Democrats in the legislature. While there is no single cause for these gains, among them are Close the Gap’s targeted and strategic recruitment model for women candidates and their broader contributions to building a support infrastructure for political women in the state.
In a new report that I authored for the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), which was commissioned by Close the Gap California, I evaluate the campaign’s model and impact by the numbers—tracking women’s representational gains and, more specifically, the trajectory and success of Close the Gap recruits—and through first-person accounts from recruits, legislators, and other key political players in California politics. Together, these data affirm Close the Gap’s site for and style of intervention.