It’s raining women in the 2020-2024 Louisiana Legislative body.
The Louisiana State Legislature recently inaugurated 26 female senators and representatives, the most women the legislature has ever had serving at the same time.
“I think that whenever you have diverse groups, you have different people’s perspectives and ideas on how to solve some of the problems that we have in the state,” Sen. Sharon Hewitt said. “You really never know what professional background some of the new women may bring to the conversation that could fill a hole. Perhaps in the background that we currently have in the legislature.”
Hewitt is about to begin her second term as a Louisiana senator and has not noticed a change within the legislative body so far, primarily because their session doesn’t begin until March 9, and they have not begun working together. However, she feels encouraged and excited about the possibilities.
“It’s not like we quadrupled the number of women,” Hewitt said. “We just added a few. So it’s baby steps.”
Sen. Beth Mizell is also beginning her second term as part of the legislative body. She has noticed that the addition of women has already led to great conversations.
“I think women are intense, and they’re also very much motivated by a sense of urgency,” Mizell said. “Every woman I meet with doesn’t want to wait to take action. And maybe that’s just the nature of women, but everybody’s very much motivated to have an impact right out of the gate.”
Mizell said she has been fortunate enough to have great support and respect from her colleagues. She has never faced any complications from working in government as a woman.
“I think that if women are motivated by the right reasons, if they are sincere in what they believe and what they’re trying to accomplish, people jump on board, men or women,” Mizell said. “They respect that you have a belief system, and you are lead by that.”
Hewitt has not been as fortunate. She feels that the legislature is a bit of a “good ole boys club.” However, with a professional background in mechanical engineering, another predominantly male industry, this is nothing new to her.
“Whether it’s the oil industry or the legislature, I think sometimes women have to work a little harder to gain respect and to be viewed as equal contributors,” Hewitt said.
Both Hewitt and Mizell agree that people tend to gravitate towards people who are more like them. They acknowledge the male senators often go hunting and fishing together to build relationships. However, Mizell feels the women build relationships in their own ways, and neither of the groups want to become more like the other.
“I don’t think anybody’s intentionally trying to leave women out or make it more difficult for women,” Hewitt said. “Some of it is just kind of how it is. It’s just how the world works, and I think there could be perhaps other minorities that would feel the same way.”
*Editor’s Note: The original version of this article incorrectly stated the LA Legislature inaugurated 26 female senators, when it inaugurated 26 female senators and representatives. The Reveille regrets this error, which has since been corrected.
