Women discuss how running for the House of Representatives while raising children alone presents multiple challenges that also inform their policies on family and healthcare



The House of Representatives, like the Senate, is only around 20% female. But it fails to represent American women in other ways, too.

In the US today, 25% of households are run by single mothers. The figure for those elected to the House is less than 1.5%.

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Those who were include Democrat Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. “As a single mom running for office, I know what it means to have more month than money,” said Moore. “You get to experience what your constituents experience,” she added. “You find yourself bringing home the bacon, frying it up in the pan, doing the dishes and then doing the laundry, too.”

When asked how that experience plays out in her politics, Moore said that, as well as helping prompt her focus on affordable childcare, retirement security and access to affordable healthcare, “I’m much more sensitive to the need to preserve the safety net.”

Moore may be joined by other single mothers in the next Congress.

LuAnn Bennett (Virginia) and Gretchen Driskell (Michigan) are both in competitive races on election day, while Colleen Deacon and Anna Throne-Holst (in New York) are running against entrenched incumbents and hoping for success. (All are Democrats.)



Driskell, who served first as a mayor of Saline, Michigan, before winning a state House seat in 2012, said that she hadn’t initially given a lot of thought to running for Congress. “Was it on my list of things to do? Absolutely not,” she said.

“Being a single mom, I looked into it in 2010, but my youngest was in high school, and I couldn’t pay my bills,” she added. “It’s a hard thing to do if you’re really stressed out about keeping a stable home for your kids.” She didn’t run for higher office until her son had graduated.

Driskell and her ex-husband were divorced in 2003, after which she found herself without health insurance – a situation that only got resolved in 2013, after she was seated in the state legislature. She said her years of single parenting have given her more insight into the issues faced by her constituents. “You have the personal experience of trying to make ends meet at the same time as trying to raise kids and while recognizing that there are unique barriers that women face.”

She hopes, if elected, to help focus on issues like access to education, paid sick leave and other policies affecting families – as well as issues specific to her district, which she says she doesn’t see her opponent, the incumbent, doing.

Bennett became a single mother when her husband passed away unexpectedly. “The experience of losing my husband, and suddenly finding myself a single working mom of three boys had a significant impact on my life and, on reflection, on my view of public policy,” she said. “Paid family leave and medical leave? I understand the importance.”

Like Driskell, Bennett waited until her children were out of the house to pursue elected office, in part because of the time it takes to campaign for office, plus the responsibilities required once you serve. “I’m not sure I would’ve chosen to do that because of the impact on my family,” she explained. “The women who do it, they often have to have a strong partner, and my hat’s off to them.

“When I became the sole owner of this business, and it was all my family had and we were in the middle of a recession, I felt like I didn’t spent enough time on anything,” she added. “I’ve had such varied life experiences that it makes me very well equipped to give thought to all the issues and to balance all the priorities.

“That’s what women have to do. It makes us great multi-taskers.”

Deacon, who is in a tough race for a congressional seat outside of Syracuse, New York, put herself through Syracuse University, a private school, on a combination of minimum-wage jobs and student loans. But when she unexpectedly became pregnant in her mid-20s while single and working as a waitress, she was forced to rely on the Women, Infants and Children (Wic) food program, food stamps and Medicaid to make ends meet until she could get a better job. That job turned out to be in then Syracuse mayor Matt Driscoll’s office, after which she went to work for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

“My story is not a unique story or experience,” she said, “But it’s not common in Congress.

“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to in the course of the campaign, parents, with stories like mine,” she added. “I had a woman come up to me and say that she’d been on food stamps 20 years ago, and I was the first person she’d told.

“There is a stigma out there of people who have used these programs, and people feel ashamed. But the programs exist for this reason, and they shouldn’t be stigmatized.”

Deacon is running for office with the blessing of her now-13-year-old son, but she says it’s difficult. “Being a single mom, running for office, campaigning is a full time job, 14 to 16 hours a day” she explained. “And then, when I get home, I still have to do laundry, I still have to take out the trash.”