In late September 2008, a small group of women gathered at the farm of the first and only woman elected statewide in Virginia – Mary Sue Terry. The purpose was to discuss reinvigorating Democratic women into the electorate statewide. Most of the women who came were involved in the historic national election playing out in front of our eyes in one way or another. Women came from all regions of Virginia all with different backgrounds. Some were elected officials, some gubernatorial appointees, some elected Democratic Party officials but ALL were activists interested in electing more Democratic women to elected office in Virginia.
With the energy brought to bear due to the historic race for the Democratic nomination that year between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Mary Sue and this group of influential women decided to take advantage of the enthusiasm and explore how to capture the power of this electorate to benefit Democratic women in our state in years to come. While Senator Clinton may have added over 18 million cracks in the Glass Ceiling, Mary Sue Terry can claim quite a few of her own.
After a trip to check on the calves being born on the fields behind Mary Sue’s house, the women got down to business. Calves weren’t the only thing being born on that farm – The Farm Team came into being as well.
The goal of The Farm team is a simple one: recruit, develop and elect women to office. We hope this website will be a resource for women who aspire to hold elective office and for those who wish to support them.
Women in our header:
Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams
Emma Frances Plecker Cassell
Helen Timmons Henderson and Helen Ruth Henderson
Lottie Moon
Mary Sue Terry
Photos from the original meeting can be viewed here.
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It has been an incredible political season for women in local and national politics. I have watched women, though Emily’s List and the media, enter the political ring throughout the country; bringing with them both focus and an incredible energy toward the work that needs to be done to move our country forward, but there is so much more that needs to be done–so thankful to find out about Virginia’s Farm Team. Please let me know how I can become involved.
Best,
Christina Hatch
Roanoke, VA
Congrats. You are off to a great start! Hopefully, we’ll see some of your energy in the central Shenandoah Valley where we have several aspiring Democratic women in politics. I can still remember hearing Mary Sue speak in Staunton during her gubernatorial campaign and at a Buffalo Gap graduation where I know she inspired several women. I note you have a blogroll. Great, but hopefully you’ll get more buzz on other VA political blogs too. I saw a post about The Farm Team on cobalt6.net.
[...] aspirations is the rumored support from the Farm Team. According to the group’s website farmteam.org, the Farm Team–which derives its name from a minor league baseball reference–organized [...]
I have just joined “The Farm Team” and am delighted. I am also working for Supervisor Cathy Hudgins of Fairfax County. Cathy is having a fundraiser on March 14 and I wonder if you all ever advocate on your blog, etc for a fundraiser for a woman candidate. Cathy’s will not stand for reelection until next year. Every year though we have a birthday party for her so she can store away “goodies” for the election coming up in the future. And at the present time, I think this is a very good idea. She works very hard and we also want to help her obtain some more automation for her campaign to free her hands more.