Women Politicians In The United States

"I really believe that the existential threat to the country is not coming from abroad. It's the shrinking middle-class at home and what that does to our stability here."

"They were decent to each other. We were all on the same team, and I'm so glad that I got to be there in that moment to see that. And I'm so concerned with how far we feel from that moment."

"It was not just the shooting. It was the fire, and the community is just trying to understand what happened. It is a testament to law enforcement."

"There's plenty of time for us to figure out what happened and what the motive was for this man, but it just - it doesn't matter at this point. These people are victims and they're survivors and this community is going to have a long road back to healing."

"Trump is ready to bring the whole weight of the federal government against Americans he perceives as enemies. Why? Because he has one goal. Making sure that he and his ilk never have to give up power. ...I think between the strikes in the Caribbean, his efforts to identify domestic terrorists, and his deployment of force in American cities, that seems to be where we're headed."

"The Trump administration notified Congress that we... are in armed conflict with a number of cartels... "designated terrorist organizations." ...But here's what's different about the strikes and what's precedent setting. The president and secretary Hegseth are refusing to tell the American people... the names, and they won't tell us why they're being targeted."

"[T]he American people deserve to know who we are at war with, especially if people are being killed in our name."

"Trump's full reorientation towards the "enemy within" ...has major implications for his use of force..."

"The next logical step... target American citizens. In theory, people... would be wiretapped, their homes could be searched or they could be arrested just for disagreeing with President Trump's agenda."

"This is... fundamentally un-American and strikes at the heart of who we are as a people..."

"Turning the federal government against Trump's enemies goes hand in hand with his use of force in American cities, both federal law enforcement and the military. ...[T]he administration ordered the creation of two new National Guard units, a standing quick reaction force that can deploy anywhere in the country, and... separately, National Guard units in all 50 states focused on quelling so-called civil disturbances."

"Trump has been very clear about his intent. At Quantico... he instructed his military brass to use cities as "training grounds" and many times he's floated the idea of using the Insurrection Act so that military units can raid, detain and arrest ."

"Trump is following the same playbook as almost every authoritarian in history. ...Once in office, surround yourself with people loyal to you. Accumulate power and influence, and... start using it against your perceived enemies."

"To our s. You can... exercise your political power to call out Trump's dangerous use of our military. ...Don't ever underestimate the power of your voice in how impactful it can be when you speak up. ...DM me. We're getting the band back together."

"There comes a time in every authoritarian playbook... a tipping point. You accumulate so much power that you realize that if you ever lose... your opponent... can use that very power against you. So you hold on to it with everything you have."

"The Caribbean strikes, the list of domestic terrorists, military and law enforcements across our American streets. He seems to be laying the groundwork to stay in power."

"I am not an alarmist. ...April of 2020 ...the first time Trump started tweeting about election fraud ...that if he lose, it could only be because of fraud. ...January 6, 2021, as rioters attacked the capitol I barricaded myself... and looked for something I could use as a weapon. The thing I thought was unthinkable was happening."

"Trump hasn't planned for... the will of the American people. Americans have an internal barometer for things that sound and smell authoritarian. ...[I]n Michigan ...even ardent Trump supporters don't like what they're seeing ...That should give us hope."

"To my Republican colleagues... in the spirit of John McCain we need to start pushing back where we don't agree on how force is being used."

"Leadership is about the actions you take, not the things you say behind closed doors."

"There is more than one way to destroy an election... to lose our democracy. We're in danger of that..."

"Ordinary citizens... can help stiffen the spines of people at home. ...[L]ocal elections are going to be more important than ever."

"To regular Americans. You can... speak out about what you're seeing, and organize peacefully against it. Throughout history, grassroots movements have been the only thing that have pushed back on government overreach."

"People sent me to Washington to make hard choices … I don’t care if that means I don’t get reelected in 2020. I want to be able to say I was on the right side of history."

"We should let this moment define us … in our darkest hour, we see hope, we see that we have more in common than differences."

"As a 20‑year Navy veteran, I know the importance of supporting and advocating for the maritime industry. … In Congress, I will continue to be a staunch advocate for the Jones Act and the U.S. maritime industry."

"Millner told The Advocate that Virginia Pride was “thrilled” to be invited to participate directly in the inaugural parade, an invitation he called “a huge honor” and a deliberate signal that visibility and belonging will be part of the new administration’s public posture from its first moments in power. “It sends a really powerful statement,” he said, “that Abigail Spanberger wanted representation and visibility from the queer community in her inaugural events.” But the symbolism is tethered to policy. Millner said advocates are looking to Spanberger to restore and aggressively enforce the Virginia Values Act, a comprehensive 2020 civil rights law that added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination statutes and created some of the strongest legal protections for LGBTQ+ people anywhere in the South. The law bars discrimination in housing, employment, credit, and public accommodations, requires equal access to places such as hotels, restaurants, schools, and retail businesses, and authorizes private lawsuits for discrimination — protections that advocates say were underenforced during the Youngkin administration. Millner said he is hopeful the Spanberger administration will “lean into that law as a platform for enforcing those protections and advancing those protections for LGBTQ+ people.” The parade’s architecture reads like a census of modern Virginia: immigrant-led organizations, Girl Scouts and 4-H students, Bollywood dancers and Korean dance troupes, labor groups and public school bands, firefighters and paramedics, NASA researchers and military cadets. It is, in effect, a living map of who Virginia is and who it intends to serve."

"Spanberger’s inauguration arrives at a moment when the political temperature around LGBTQ+ life remains volatile across the country. But in Virginia, the 2025 election cycle produced a quiet rebuke of grievance-driven politics. Democrats swept statewide offices, and efforts to weaponize transgender existence as a campaign issue failed to deliver the electoral payoff Republicans had promised. That shift is already visible in the composition of the incoming government. Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi appointed Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman to her transition team, embedding LGBTQ+ leadership into the fabric of the new administration. Millner said he hopes Spanberger will explicitly name LGBTQ+ communities in her inaugural address — not as symbols, but as people whose lives are bound up in state policy. He added Spanberger made a “concerted effort to engage queer and trans folks” not only in her campaign but in its leadership — a move that promises “seats at the table that we haven’t had... for the last four years.”"

"Virginians are already facing the dire impacts of DOGE, reckless tariffs, and attacks on their healthcare coverage. And now, our Commonwealth faces totally unnecessary job cuts as President Trump promises to enact mass firings. With each new attack from the White House, Winsome Earle-Sears fails to stand up for Virginia’s families, workforce, and economy. Just yesterday, when given multiple opportunities to publicly ask the President to stop further cuts to Virginia jobs, she outright refused to do so. We need a Governor who will put Virginia first, no matter who is in the White House or which party controls the levers of power across the Potomac. As Governor, I will remain focused on lowering costs for Virginia families, protecting access to affordable healthcare, and — critically — always standing up for Virginia jobs and businesses. President Trump must reverse course and work in good faith to end this shutdown as soon as possible. And we need leaders in Richmond who will demand this of the President, not use this moment as an opportunity to punish even more Virginians."

"On January 17, transgender people in Virginia will be able to breathe easier knowing they have ally in the state’s governor’s mansion again. Anti-trans Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will be out, and a historic Democratic woman will be in the governor's seat. When Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and three-term member of Congress, takes the oath as the Commonwealth’s 75th governor, the parade that follows will not simply be ceremonial. It will be political. It will be cultural. And, for LGBTQ+ Virginians who have spent years bracing against erasure and rollback, it will be deeply personal. Marching through downtown Richmond will be Virginia Pride and Diversity Richmond — queer organizations whose presence in the inaugural procession marks a sharp departure from the Youngkin years, when LGBTQ+ communities were routinely sidelined as legislative battles over transgender students, classroom speech, and public accommodation laws reshaped daily life. “This dark cloud that has hung over Virginia, particularly as it pertains to the dignity and the rights of LGBTQ folks, is going to be lifted,” said James Millner, executive director of Virginia Pride, who described the moment as a “huge relief” for queer and transgender Virginians who have felt their lives become political weapons."

"Virginians did not vote for this. Senator Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and their sidekick, Abigail Spanberger, supported a government shutdown. They chose politics over people and left families wondering how they’ll pay their bills. At a time when Virginians need leadership, they chose to play games."

"I’m out there in the community I’m out there in the state. I’m out there in the country. I’m out there in the world, talking about our amazing community and how it’s a fantastic place to live."

"“Seeing the success that they’ve had “I can bring it back and be like, ‘We’re on the right track. We’re doing the right things. Let’s just not let it slide.’”"

"It’s kind of nice to be with your peers and find out that you’re all dealing with a lot of the same issues,It doesn’t matter what city or state you’re in — blue, red ... whatever. They’re all just trying to think about community safety and housing and just people’s mental health."

"I was able to help put Columbia on the map. ... People talk about Missouri being a flyover state. So when they think about climate research reactors, they think about Boston, and Minnesota and the California coast And yet ... we have this amazing resource here."

"“I’m really thankful that I have professional city staff who run the day-to-day, whether I’m in town or not"

"It really helped me put in perspective that we’re part of a larger global community. And we need to be thinking about the decisions we are making because they impact Columbia, but they also have a role to play with our neighbors across state lines and oceans."

"And I want men and women, young and old, to see me and think, ‘That was my m’hija, That was my daughter.’ Or…’I’m an intern somewhere and I don’t feel seen. But if she could do it, so can I.’”"

"Every one of you here can make that difference in this race. This is how we get our message out. We tell people who I am, we tell people who were fighting for, and I can't do it without you because money and politics is buying our elected officials."

"Talk about opportunity, we all just want a chance, a shot at the American Dream and how do you get there? In school. Education."

"When you spread it out and say, we're just going to go get anybody we can, that's actually making us less safe, because now you're using resources to get people who are their friends, their neighbors."

"Some of those people, they're just dismissing their cases. They're trampling on due process. They're not even getting access to a lawyer."

"I've gotten a piece of the American dream, but now I'm running to make sure others have that same opportunity and that in a nutshell is why I'm running for Congress."

"They're just treating everybody as a criminal. They're not distinguishing between who are the real criminals versus -- which are the folks that they're saying they're going after, versus everybody else."

"We saw that happening starting when [he said he's] going to defund California and stop giving the federal money. Now he's taking it to the immigration front. So this is his game plan and we can't let people fall into it. We have to make sure not to take the bait, not to do the violence."

"If you are going after serious criminal offenders, we support that. There is no disagreement about that. But they're not doing targeted enforcement. What they're doing is, they're doing mass deportation, round up of just everybody, let's see who we can get."

"We were looking at social justice issues. Back then, we were talking about racial profiling. What has happened now? It's just gotten worse."

"You bring up the National Guard, you rise tensions. People come out and this is what you're starting to see happen."

"It was the sheriffs who got things under control, not the National Guard. In downtown L.A. that night, it was the LAPD who got things under control, it was not the National Guard."

"This is a sign of a dictator who takes over a National Guard against the governor's will, [and] against all elected officials' will. The presence of the National Guard in itself is sending that message, "we're here to take you over." This is to empower the president to flex his muscles."