On Monday, six women announced that they'll be running for state and local offices in Georgia, in response to the anti-abortion bill Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in recent weeks.
Kelly Rose owns an actors studio and says she decided to take on state Sen. Brian Strickland after talking to her 8-year-old daughter about bullying. The best way to fight them, she told her daughter, is to come together as a community and stand up to them. "The way I feel, this Legislature is being a bully," she said. "Bullies act out of fear and to preserve perceived power." This is her first run for office.
Joyce Barlow is going to take her second run against an incumbent of two decades, Rep. Gerald Green. She's a registered nurse who lost by just 1,400 against Green in November. "If I don't step up to be concerned about our families," she said, "then we're going to leave it to the people who are serving special-interest groups."
These two are part of the second wave of Democratic women to announce their candidacies, following the initial group that launched challenges against Republican lawmakers who voted for the "heartbeat" anti-abortion bill that has since become law. That first group of seven includes Nikki Merritt, who is among handful of challengers to state Sen. P.K. Martin. "I'm from Georgia and I don't like seeing where we are going," she said. "We live in a free society. No one has the right to take choice away from women—ever."
Caroline Holko was inspired to run against Rep. John Carson after she wrote to him explaining how an abortion saved her life, and received a dismissive response about his support for the bill. "At that moment, I resolved to file my intent to fund-raise," she said. "To paraphrase Ruth Bader Ginsberg: How many women are enough in the House? All the seats."
All. The. Seats.