The circuitous journey for and final passage of a bill requiring police to account for the backlog of untested rape kits in Georgia has as its shero WIN List endorsed Senator Elena Parent. The bill’s path to passage is proof positive WINning women know how to prevail.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Holcomb and became one of the few victories for progressives during the 2016 legislative session. WIN List involvement goes back much further. With a WIN List endorsement amongst many others, a then pregnant Elena Parent braved the summer heat to seek support for a house seat in 2010. She defeated a sitting female GOP Committee Chair – one of only 10 such flipped legislative seats Democrats could claim in the nation that year.
Republican retaliation was swift. During reapportionment, Parent’s neighborhood was drawn into the district of Holcomb, a veteran and popular progressive Democrat who was also elected in 2010. The two long time friends and fellow attorneys chose not to become political enemies by running against each other as the GOP might have hoped. Parent moved her growing family to Druid Hills where she suspected a Senate seat might soon become available. She renovated the new house, gave birth to a second child and continued her good work as Executive Director of Georgia Watch. In 2014, with a WIN List endorsement, Elena ran for and won the Senate District 40 seat Jason Carter left to run for governor.
Holcomb’s “rape kit” bill passed the House by a strong margin with bi-partisan support early in the 2016 session. The bill seemed a “no brainer” for quick Senate passage owing to wide support from law enforcement and victim advocacy groups. Then, Republican Committee Chair Renee Unterman refused a hearing for the bill and the legislation stalled in her committee, blocking hope for Senate passage.
That’s when savvy political maneuvers by experienced legislator lawyers were called for. A Senate bill of Parent’s facing a vote in the House was used as a “vehicle” for the language from Holcomb’s original bill. This bill passed in the House and was sent to the Senate on the last day of the session where it also passed — with Unterman’s support.
WIN List is proud of Parent and the parliamentary procedural savvy which makes her the SHERO for Holcomb’s bill. She faces a General Election challenge this fall. Your support for Georgia’s WIN List helps us protect Elena and the other nine currently serving WIN List endorsed women who face Primary of General Election challenges.
Your gifts allow us to write bigger checks to accompany our endorsements. We will also help elect endorsed candidates to replace the four endorsed incumbents who chose not to seek re-election as well as electing a few exciting new faces for open seats.
When women vote, women WIN!
When we elect more women like Elena Parent to the legislature, all Georgia women are WINners!
