Capitol Corner w/ Rep. Themis Klarides: Forward Thinking

For many people, our in boxes fill up daily with invitations and requests to participate in worthy causes, to raise money and awareness for fill-in-the-blank.

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I try to make as many of these events as possible because from an early age, I was imbued by my family with community values, to try and give back whenever I could.

One of my favorite events took place in Orange last month. The local Republican Women’s Club staged its “Women Running in High Heels,” a luncheon that featured those who have made a difference in local and state government.

The image is a powerful one: high heel clad females running down a street toward an unstated goal, but with a purpose.

As the first woman to lead the House Republican caucus, I take the honor very seriously and am humbled by the support of the people who selected me as their leader. But I still wonder: Why did it take so long? We have had two female governors to lead this state – one Democrat and Republican. We have had a female as House speaker and Senate president – one from each party.

We had a relatively large turnover of members in our Republican House caucus last year and actually lost a net number of women in our ranks. In Connecticut, women make up only 29 percent of the 187 state legislators. Nationwide, the percentage is just 24 percent.

Recently, a group of high school students from an all-girls prep school visited at the Capitol and had wonderful questions and brimmed with positive ideas about what may lay ahead for them if they chose to pursue a life in politics or public service. It made my day and left me thinking that perhaps, a future governor, senator or maybe even a president had just left my office.