11 Women to Watch in 2011

At the beginning of the 2010 election cycle, many commentators and pundits believed that this was the year to run as a woman. We saw a record number of women run and a lot of excitement around their candidacy. Yet after the midterm elections were over and done, we saw the numbers for women in Congress not increase since 1987! Despite those odds, we are keeping our eyes on a couple of women who could do amazing things in 2011. Here are our 11 Women to Watch in 2011.

Terri Sewell - freshman Congresswoman out of Alabama, is the first African American woman to be elected from the state. With the same pedigree as the First Lady Michelle Obama, undergraduate degree from Princeton and law degree from Harvard University, she is definitely one to watch.

Kirsten Gillibrand - after lobbying successfully for the passage of the 9/11 Act and repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", this freshman senator solidified herself as a force to be reckoned with. And after winning her election by a landslide this past November, she proved that she deserved to walk in Hillary Clinton's footsteps.

Elizabeth Warren - recently featured on the Political Girl for her photo opt in Vogue, she was recently appointed by President Obama to as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection, she is charged with protecting the American people for another failure of the Wall Street banks.

Kamala Harris - the newly elected District Attorney of California is already making the media rounds with a profile in Politico and an upcoming spread in Harper's Bazaar, however she has made it clear that her first priority is keeping the residents of California safe.

Michelle Rhee - When she stormed into Washington, DC 3 years ago she had the city buzzing by firing hundreds of students and closing over 20 schools. With the defeat of DC Mayor Adrian Fenty in September, she decided to leave the post and recently announced on Oprah that she was starting Students First, an organization to support student reform around the country.

 


Find out who else made the list by clicking below!

Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - These two moderate Republican Senators will become even more powerful when the 112th Congress starts in early January. With the Democrats only having a slight majority in the Senate (53-47) their willingness to negotiate and compromise with these women will be all that more important.

  

Susan Rice - while she has had a quiet tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, she has played a key role in many of President Obama's foreign policy meetings like the Nuclear Security Summit and this years successful United Nations Summit, many have speculated that if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves her position next year, it might be all hers.

Melody Barnes - this low key staffer of President Obama has a big year ahead of her with several of the administrations' successes under attack by Congressional Republicans. As Director of Domestic Policy Council, she played a key role in many legislative victories like health care reform and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and wouldn't want them overturned in a new year. Watch for her to make her case on television as she has been making the rounds more frequently.

Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor - This year we saw Elena Kagan appointed to the Supreme Court where she joined President Obama's other nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. While their appointment didn't change the ideological makeup of the court, many are waiting to scour their decisions and writing to see what type of judges they will be. And just a couple of days ago, the New York Times and the LA Times already started their predictions...

  

Did we miss anybody?

What political women do you think will do great things in 2011?