Welcome to the Media Round Up! We’ve collected and shared our favorite gender + politics stories from this week.

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Danish Prime Minister in Limbo After Poor Election Results
The Wall Street Journal, Sune Engel Rasmussen

On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen led her party to its worst election in more than 120 years. The Social Democrats, Denmark’s largest party, received roughly 22% of the vote, which is down from the 27.5% of the vote they received in the 2022 election, making this their worst result since 1903. While Frederiksen will retain power, she falls short of being able to form a center-left coalition. Frederiksen said that seven years in government has worn on her party’s popularity, with many voters still angry about the government’s 2023 cancellation of a public holiday and the 2020 order to cull all of the roughly 17 million farm-raised mink in Denmark to stop the spread of a coronavirus mutation. Frederiksen also suffered due to a shift toward political poles by voters, with the left wing Socialist Peoples’ Party and the right-wing Danish People’s Party both surging in popularity.

Special Election Flips Seat

On Tuesday, Democrat Emily Gregory won a special state House election in a Palm Beach district that includes President Donald Trump’s Florida home of Mar-a-Lago. Democrats celebrated Gregory’s victory as another sign that voters are turning against Trump and Republicans ahead of the midterm elections in November, as Tuesday’s election was the latest in a “series of lopsided or improbable victories” in special elections across the nation since Trump’s return to the White House. Gregory, a business owner and military spouse running for office for the first time, defeated Republican Jon Maples, a former council-member who received an endorsement from Trump back in January.

GOP Senator Weighs Forcing Congress to Vote to Authorize the Iran War
The New York Times, Megan Mineiro and Robert Jimison

Senator Lisa Murkowski, a senior Republican senator from Alaska who has harshly criticized the Trump administration for keeping Congress in the dark about the combat operations in Iran, has begun working with a group of senators to draft legislation for a formal authorization of military force in Iran. On Thursday, Murkowski described the move as an act of desperation to try and put some parameters around the operation, as the Trump administration refuses to provide answers to Congress about its objectives, cost, and timeline, in addition to boxing lawmakers out of its decision-making on the conflict. It is unclear when Murkowski might introduce the measure and its fate is highly uncertain. Under the 1973 War Powers Act, an authorization of war must be considered under expedited procedures and voted on within days of being filed, however, Congress is scheduled to depart for a two-week recess beginning Friday, so any vote would likely come after that.

Trump Wants to End Mail Voting. The Supreme Court’s Conservative Justices Appear Eager to Assist
Mother Jones, Ari Berman

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard a challenge from the Republican National Committee and the Trump administration to a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to five days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by the day of the election. Sixteen states have similar grace periods and twenty-nine states accept ballots from overseas and military voters that arrive after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked prior to the election. The most right-wing appellate court in the country, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, struck down Mississippi’s law leading up to the 2024 election. Now, it appears that several Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices want to turn that decision into settled law. During the oral arguments, several conservative justices referenced conspiracy theories and hypotheticals regarding the use of mail-in ballots and these deadlines, suggesting that at least four of the conservative justices are hostile to the Mississippi law. Liberal justices stated that if ballots had to be cast and counted on Election Day, then early voting could be imperiled as well. While many court experts expected the RNC and Trump administration to lose the case, the number of justices appearing sympathetic to the arguments against mail-in voting is concerning.

‘Completely Lawless’: Why This Congresswoman Wants Pam Bondi Impeached
USA Today, Aysha Bagchi

A sophomore in Congress watched with growing concern as the Department of Justice fired a top ethics official, ousted investigators of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and opened investigations into the president’s political opponents. As the transformations at the DOJ mounted, she concluded the nation’s top law enforcement official wasn’t fit to serve. “This is an administration that is out of control and that is completely lawless,” Rep. Summer Lee, D–Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY, as she explained her decision to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi a day earlier. Lee’s impeachment measure, drafted with the help of anti-corruption nonprofit group Free Speech for People, points to investigations and prosecutions that she says demonstrate the Justice Department is being politicized. Those include charges brought at the president’s urging against some of his longtime critics, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

She Followed a Civil Rights Hero to Alabama. It Shaped Her Path to Power.
The 19th* News, Grace Panetta

The 19th* News profiles Michigan gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, exploring how the legacy of Viola Liuzzo inspired her to “join an existential fight for the soul of democracy.” Liuzzo, a white Detroit mother who was murdered in 1965 for supporting the civil rights movement in Alabama, deeply influenced Benson to effect change by running for political office – right out of college, she worked as a volunteer researcher and undercover investigator at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). After being elected to two terms as Michigan’s secretary of state, she is now the Democratic frontrunner for the state’s governor’s race, which is set to be among “the most competitive and consequential” in the country. Benson believes that carrying on the work that Liuzzo would have continued had she not been murdered is her life’s mission.

Cortez Masto’s Counterpunch
Axios, Stephen Neukam

As Democratic Senate primaries in Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota are shaping up to be proxy wars between the party’s centrist and progressive wings, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) is “riding to the rescue” of centrist Senate Democratic candidates across the country. Cortez Masto recently made her latest move in Michigan, where she endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the party’s “divisive” primary. The party infighting has spread to the Democratic caucus, where progressives are “openly defying” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer by supporting candidates he has passed over; Cortez Masto, conversely, is emerging as a leading moderate to counter lawmakers challenging Schumer’s judgment.

‘I am Auntie Maxine’: Waters Eyes Leadership Bid as Capitol Hill Gerontocracy Fights to Hold On
POLITICO, Jasper Goodman

Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-D), also known as “Auntie Maxine,” has all but locked down a second turn as chair of the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats win a majority in November, meaning that the committee could soon have its oldest leader in its history. Waters, who became the first woman and Black person to lead the panel in 2019, faces almost no competition, despite persistent calls to end Capitol Hill’s gerontocracy. However, few Democrats are willing to publicly cross her, as she maintains the backing of most senior Democrats on the panel. Waters hasn’t shown any signs of deterioration and individuals close to her say she remains sharp, however, some Democrats worry about the optics of having an octogenarian in the seat. In addition to her age, critics also cite her approach to fundraising and inability to create opportunities for rank-and-file members to lead on issues as a concern.

Her Colleague Released an Islamophobic Campaign Ad. Now This Georgia Lawmaker is Running Against Him.
The 19th* News, Mariel Padilla

Nabilah Parkes was inside Georgia’s Senate chamber when she first saw the video released by her Republican colleague Greg Dolezal as part of his campaign for lieutenant governor. The video, reportedly made using AI, depicted Muslims terrorizing White Georgia residents and ended with the message: “Keep Georgia sharia free.” Parkes confronted Dolezal who refused to look at her, but later told her “Feel free to take a shot at me.” This prompted Parkes to run for lieutenant governor, and if she wins, she would be Georgia’s first Muslim lieutenant governor. Parkes resigned from her seat in the state Senate and is now running alongside two Democratic candidates: Josh McLaurin and Richard Wright. Dolezal’s campaign ad reflects a rise in Islamophobic rhetoric from prominent Republicans and a record-high number of discrimination complaints reported by Muslims.

Cranberry Republican Scialabba to Step Down From State House, Opening Door for Special Election
WESA, Tom Riese

On Tuesday, Cranberry Township Republican Stephenie Scialabba announced that she will resign from the Pennsylvania state House, effective next week. Scialabba said she would cut her time short in a speech from the House floor in Harrisburg, imploring legislators to contemplate expanding child care to make it easier for legislators who are parents and must regularly travel to the state Capitol. “If you’re a mom or dad who doesn’t want your parenting and your public service to live in two separate spaces, a dedicated children’s environment within reach would close the gap in real ways for capital staffers and lawmakers,” she lamented. Her departure opens the door for a special election, which must be set within ten days.

After Monuments Honoring Only Men, Ohio Capitol Square is Finally Getting One for Women
Cleveland.com, Laura Hancock

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other dignitaries broke ground at the Statehouse on Wednesday for the installation of a monument that will honor generations of women who shaped Ohio and the nation. The idea for the Ohio Women’s Monument came from a commission that was established in 2019, thanks to bipartisan legislation sponsored by former state senators Stephanie Kunze of the Columbus area and Sandra Williams of Cleveland. The commission was created to come up with ways to educate Ohioans on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, which gave women the right to vote. “Women deserve to see themselves and their accomplishments represented in public spaces, and Ohio is taking an important step in closing this representation gap,” Kunze said. “We cannot be what we cannot see. And the placement of this monument matters.”

‘We’re Backtracking’: On Women’s History Month, Mayor Levine Cava Warns Progress is in Danger
The Miami Times, Sofia Baltodano & Natalie La Roche Pietri

Reflecting on female representation in politics, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava recalled a Zoom meeting at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a Girl Scout asked how it felt to be Miami-Dade County’s first “girl mayor.” “It feels great to be the first ‘girl’ mayor,” she said. In the same Zoom call, a mother told her daughter, “Maybe one day you’ll be mayor.” “No — president,” the girl replied. It’s the kind of story that brings hope to Levine Cava, who in 2020 became the first woman elected mayor of Miami-Dade County. After Cava made history in 2020, she was re-elected in August 2024 in a crowded field of five challengers, to continue leading one of the nation’s most populous and most diverse counties. Women are breaking through years of political underrepresentation in Miami. Now, as she’s halfway through her final term, Cava emphasized the importance of mentoring the next generation of women leaders.

“Leadership starts at the local level,” she said. “It’s really critically important that we do more to mentor girls and women, to prepare them for leadership roles…We’re backtracking, and I’m afraid that — this country especially — has created a space for even hate to be acceptable,” she said. “It’s very, very dangerous and I think we need to change the narrative.She stressed the need to equip the next generation to challenge the rise in anti-women ideology and hurdles to gender equality.

Olympic Committee Bars Transgender Athletes From Women’s Events
The New York Times, Tariq Panja

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially prohibited transgender athletes from competing in the women’s category of the Olympics, stating that all participants in those events must now “undergo genetic testing.” The controversial decision followed a board meeting and months of speculation over the IOC’s policy on one of the most pressing issues facing global sports. Kirsty Coventry, elected last year as the first woman to serve as president of the IOC, frequently noted the importance of “protecting” women’s sports amid debates about the participation of transgender athletes in sports competitions. “It is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category,” Coventry said in a statement announcing the news. The rules will be applicable beginning at the next Olympic games, which will take place in Los Angeles in 2028.

Chávez Allegations Reveal Widespread Abuse
Arizona leaders distanced themselves from César Chávez after he was accused of abusing young women and minors in a bombshell news report. Chávez, a civil rights leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, abused girls for years, according to a New York Times report that was published on March 18. Civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, his most prominent female ally, said Chávez sexually assaulted her. The allegations have tarnished the legacy of Chávez, who was credited with battling powerful corporations to uplift the working conditions of farmworkers. He died in 1993. Almost two decades ago, Huerta joined Mónica Ramírez at a Chicago event to promote the Bandana Project, a campaign Ramírez had launched to raise awareness about sexual violence against women farmworkers. Huerta spoke about the need to educate women farmworkers about their rights and empower them to speak out about sexual exploitation that is both widespread and underreported among agricultural field workers. The allegations against Chavez by Huerta and other women and girls show that the culture of fear and intimidation that enables sexual abuse in agriculture had also for many years existed within top ranks of the male-dominated labor movement that fought for farmworker rights. At the same time, advocates like Ramírez say the decision by Huerta and other women to speak out — first revealing their allegations to the New York Times — is a powerful sign that things have changed since Chavez’s time.

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In Sheds Quarter of Staff, Will Focus on Manosphere Fight
Wall Street Journal, Alexander Saeedy

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In nonprofit has shed about a quarter of its staff as the founder focuses the feminist organization on pushing back against the “tradwife” and manosphere movements that prioritize women’s roles as housewives. More than a dozen employees have left the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation, which includes the LeanIn.Org initiative, over the past year, either through layoffs or by choice, people familiar with the changes said. The billionaire is now seeking a harder edge as cultural tides shift toward traditional gender roles. She warned in an online post last week that the “glamorization” of the “tradwife” movement risks reviving the professional guilt women spent decades dismantling.

Netflix Documentary ‘Inside the Manosphere’ Exposes a Digital Pipeline to Misogyny
Ms. Magazine, Emma Cieslik

On March 11, Netflix released a new documentary titled Inside the Manosphere, that examines how the manosphere exploits and harms young boys and teenagers. When speaking to influencers, Theroux found that a majority of them are aware of the harm that they cause young boys and teenagers, with one influencer blaming the parents for allowing their children to consume this content. Some influencers Theroux spoke to even claimed to not believe what they share online. Theroux also discusses the link between the manosphere and Trump’s second successful run as president, as the same conspiracy theories spread by manosphere influencers are circulated by QAnon leaders. Overall the documentary reveals how profit-driven influencers, amplified by algorithms, media platforms, and politics, have weaponized misogyny, conspiracy theories, and traditional values to teach boys that their worth is conditional and earned through dominance.