When the new Congress convenes early next month, Virginia's 11-member House delegation will be without a woman for the first time since 2000.
The defeat of Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd, in the Nov. 4 election left the state without any female representatives.
"This is a step backward for Virginia," said Leslie L. Byrne of Fairfax County, who in 1992 became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives from Virginia. The Democrat served for one term, representing the 11th District in Northern Virginia before losing to Republican Thomas M. Davis III.
"Regardless of the party, women ought to have more representation; they make up over 50 percent of the population," said Byrne, who remained active in politics and narrowly lost the race for lieutenant governor in 2005.
A record 95 women have served in the 110th Congress, which opened in January 2007 and closes next month. Four have died, among them Virginia's Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-1st.
Byrne is involved with women who recently formed the "Farm Team" to recruit and support women for public office. The organizers include former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, still the highest-ranking female elected official in Virginia.
Terry was elected attorney general in 1985 and 1989, then lost as the Democratic nominee for governor in 1993. No woman has been elected to statewide office in Virginia before or since.
"I don't know whether women don't want to or don't know how to" run for office, Byrne said.
She noted that representation of women in the General Assembly -- they hold about 16 percent of the legislative seats -- hasn't changed appreciably in 20 years.
Of the 13 announced or prospective candidates seeking the Democratic or Republican nominations to run for governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general next year, only one, Democrat Jody Wagner of Virginia Beach, is a woman. Wagner is seeking the nomination to run for lieutenant governor.
Toni Travis, a political scientist at George Mason University, said, "I think we are going backwards."
She said both parties need to put a priority on developing more female candidates.
"It's time for the men to come forward and take an interest in identifying women candidates," she said.
In addition to Drake, three other candidates for Congress in Virginia this year were women. Those three, all Democrats, lost handily on Nov. 4.
One of the three, Anita Hartke of Culpeper County, said family considerations make women more reluctant to run for office. She grew up in a political family. Her father, the late Vance Hartke, was a U.S. senator from Indiana, and he urged her to get involved in public service, she said.
Although she lost badly to Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, in a Republican-leaning district, Hartke had nothing but positive things to say about her race.
"I never felt uncomfortable," she said. She did not encounter any prejudice against women, she added.
Hartke said she has not decided whether to run again.
For a time, Virginia had two women in Congress. Jo Ann Davis died in office in October 2007. Drake was elected in a special election in 2004. Democrat Glenn Nye defeated her on Nov. 4.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
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