The 10 Districts Most and Least Likely
to Elect a Woman in 2008

In addition to the top 10 best and worst places for women to run for Congress, the researchers also ranked all 435 Congressional districts. For the 109th Congress, they used 10 demographic characteristics. In core Democratic districts, the demographic characteristics have significantly different values where women have been elected compared to districts that elected only men. Six of these demographic characteristics have greater values in districts that have elected a woman: urban residents, median income, college graduates and the proportion of African-American, Hispanic and foreign-born residents.

In each Congressional district, if the particular factor had a value greater than or equal to the average of the core Democratic districts that elected a woman, it is assigned a one. There are three demographic characteristics that have lower values in the districts that elected a woman: Republican vote for president, size of the district and blue-collar workforce. In each congressional district, if the particular factor had a value less than or equal to the average of the core Democratic districts that elected a woman, it is also assigned a one. Districts outside the South are also assigned a one. The index of women-friendliness is calculated by summing these demographic characteristics and ranges from zero to ten.

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