Welcome to the Media Round Up! We’ve collected and shared our favorite gender + politics stories from this week. Is there a story we should know about? Tell us at: ongender@gmail.com

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New White House Press Secretary Faces Questions – About the Issues and About Her Credentials

Newly appointed press secretary Katie Zacharia made her rocky debut Tuesday morning. She described herself as a lawyer and has established herself in mainstream media as a commentator on conservative outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax. Yet her time at the podium lasted less than 15 minutes. After nervously reading from a script, she took only three questions from the press. Her most viral moment of the morning came when she slipped, mixing up her husband and ‘her president’. Following this performance, reporters have been asking more questions. While she said she would ‘get back to’ a question about US negotiations with Ukraine, she did answer a question about where she passed her bar exam outside the White House with President Trump. She claimed she took her bar exam when she “moved to China”, but no evidence shows she took the bar in any state or China. This has led to more extensive questioning of Zacharia’s resume. The watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint Wednesday with the State Bar of California asking them to investigate whether Zacharia misrepresented herself as a lawyer in violation of California law.

Arizona House Candidate Said She Was Raped While Fixing Campaign Signs
The 19th* News, Jasmine Mithani

Content warning: This story references incidents of sexual assault.

On August 14th, Arizona House candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia said she was raped around 2 AM, while fixing campaign signs to avoid the daytime heat and traffic.

Greene-Placentia was initially hesitant to report the attack, saying, “I’d always considered myself a strong person, and so I was embarrassed.” Rape is chronically underreported.  Survivors may not report their assault to law enforcement for any number of reasons, including a fear of retaliation, not believing the police would help and not believing the crime was important enough. But two weeks later she called the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to report the crime. Greene-Placentia is speaking up now because “I need to let women know that it’s okay to talk about it.” Gender based violence is political, but not partisan. Studies show almost all women lawmakers have experienced harassment. These threats of violence can prevent women from running for office.

If you or a loved one ha ve experienced sexual assault and are in crisis, please call RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or reach out to the 24-hour chat service at rainn.org. LGBTQ+ people experiencing any type of violence can call the Anti-Violence Project’s hotline at 212-714-1141 Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern or Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern. (From article) 

The Voting Rights Act Has Taken Two Devastating Blows. What Comes Next?
The 19th* News, Amanda Becker

The NAACP’s top lawyer Kristen Clarke raises alarms about the two “devastating blows” to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The first came in 2013, with the Shelby County v. Holder ruling, which invalidated the formula used to determine which parts of the country were subject to Section 5 of the civil rights law. Section 5’s preclearance system has been used to stop discriminatory voting practices before they were enacted. The ruling meant that voting changes can only be challenged after they pass under the Voting Rights Act’s Section 2, which prohibits voting procedures and maps that discriminate on the basis of race. However, the Supreme Court also weakened Section 2 in Louisiana v. Callais, by striking down a Louisiana voting map that created a second majority-Black congressional district. These rulings have proven extremely consequential for the disenfranchisement of Black voters. By 2020, the racial turnout gap had grown to between 9.2 and 20.9 percentage points in five of the six states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Advocates, including Clarke, have called for Supreme Court reforms. Meanwhile, the House passed legislation to protect voting rights, but it has not passed the Senate.

Abortion Battlegrounds 

More than four years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the national conflict over reproductive access is increasingly bound by procedural delays, statutory battles, and direct voter mobilization. At the federal level, the regulatory framework governing medication abortion remains paused in extended administrative timelines. In recent federal court filings, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signaled that its ongoing safety review of mifepristone will continue into the next year. This has frustrated anti-abortion organizations and groups that are pressing for an immediate national ban on abortion medication, while leaving healthcare providers in legal limbo.

Meanwhile, state-level enforcement mechanisms are generating unexpected legal blowback. In Texas, the private civil enforcement structure established under House Bill 7, a controversial statute that allows private citizens to sue anyone who distributes abortion pills, was recently turned against the anti-abortion advocates who championed the legislation. An undercover social media stunt by leaders of Students for Life prompted a civil lawsuit from a South Texas mother seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars under the law’s bounty provisions.

While debates over medication abortion play out through administrative reviews and courtroom crossfire, grassroots organizers are taking the issue directly to the electorate. In Idaho, where voters face a direct ballot initiative to repeal an active, total ban, an unexpected coalition of mothers and grandmothers is canvassing conservative rural communities door to door to build bipartisan support for reproductive healthcare access by engaging with their neighbors in one on one discussions. By moving past rigid partisan rhetoric, these grassroot conversations alongside legal challenges are transforming what was once treated as a taboo private topic into an unexpected battleground for cross party dialogue and legal maneuvering.

Kamala Harris Adds Stops to Her Final Midterm Campaign Stretch. Her Decision About 2028 Comes Later
Associated Press, Bill Barrow

As the midterm elections quickly approach, former Vice President Kamala Harris is rounding out her final “fall campaign blitz” by visiting multiple early presidential primary states on Democrats’ 2028 calendar. Between October 21st to October 30th, Harris’ midterm schedule will now include New Hampshire, Mississippi, and Wisconsin; she had previously announced stops in Georgia and Nevada. While Harris’ late October tour primarily focuses on Democratic nominees for governor and U.S. Senate, she herself has not yet ruled out another presidential campaign after losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump. “For the past twenty months, the American people have struggled as a consequence of the cruelty and corruption of this current administration,” she wrote in a fundraising email Wednesday urging donors to support her upcoming midterm travels.

Maine’s Complicated Senate Race

As the midterm elections approach, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) faces a competitive reelection race against Democratic challenger Troy Jackson in a historically Democratic-leaning state. Collins has frequently broken with President Trump, voting against his initiatives more than any other Republican senator and criticized several of his policies. As chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she has also opposed Trump’s proposed spending cuts and worked to ensure federal funds are used as Congress intended. Despite Maine’s Democratic lean, Collins won reelection in 2020 by nine percentage points, matching Trump’s margin of defeat in the state. However, her current race highlights the challenges facing moderate Republicans, as some Maine voters say their opposition to Trump could influence how they vote in November, even when considering a candidate like Collins who has often distanced herself from the president.

The Disappearing Women Of The Trump Administration
The New York Times, Erica Green

Following his 2024 election victory, President Donald Trump appointed several women to prominent positions in his administration, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who left the role in August. However, Kimberly Guilfoyle’s resignation as U.S. ambassador to Greece this week has renewed attention on the growing number of women departing the administration. During a three-month period this spring, four of Trump’s female cabinet-level officials resigned or were dismissed. Meanwhile, male officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have faced repeated criticism while remaining in their positions. At a Women’s History Month celebration last year, Trump highlighted the number of women serving in his Cabinet, claiming it exceeded that of any previous Republican president. With only four women reportedly remaining in cabinet-level positions, Democrats in office are questioning whether male appointees are being held to the same standard of accountability as their female counterparts.

These States Could Elect Their First Female Governors This Year
Roll Call, Andrew Menezes

Several states could elect women to their governors’ mansions for the first time, though the female candidates in some of these races face tough odds. Both Minnesota and Tennessee appear poised to elect their first female governors, as Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are favored to win their bids this November. A number of other states could see women win their gubernatorial races: in Ohio, Democrat Amy Action is currently locked in a close race with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy; in Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) is hoping to become the state’s first female and first black Governor, competing against Republican businessman Rick Jackson. The number of women currently serving as state governor is at a record high of 14.

What We Know About The Search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s House
The 19th* News, Amanda Becker

On Monday, federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Washington home as part of an investigation into potential immigration-related crimes involving her family, including alleged false statements and fraudulent paperwork. Omar also faced a separate investigation during the Biden administration related to her finances and interactions with foreign citizens. While no formal rules prevent the Justice Department from acting on cases so close to an election, the agency has traditionally avoided high-profile moves like this during the final weeks of a campaign. The search has drawn criticism from Democrats, who have accused the federal government of political corruption, while Omar has rejected the allegations and said the investigation will not intimidate her.

These Prosecutors Saw How The Justice System Failed Women. Now They’re Running For Congress.
The 19th* News, Mel Leonor Barclay

In Virginia and Michigan, two former prosecutors who witnessed failures in the justice system are running for Congress with a focus on holding perpetrators of violence against women accountable. Shannon Taylor of Virginia, and Christina Hines of Michigan, have both criticized the government’s handling of the Epstein case and made accountability a central part of their messaging. In their campaigns, Hines has appeared at events with Epstein survivors and pledged to fight for those whose abusers have escaped accountability, while Taylor has released campaign ads highlighting her prosecution of a lawmaker and featuring advocates against domestic violence and human trafficking. However, both face difficult races: Taylor is challenging longtime Republican Rep. Rob Wittman, who has represented her district for 10 terms and won by 13 points in 2024, while Hines is running in a Detroit-area district that President Trump carried by seven points that same year. Despite these electoral challenges, both candidates are using their experience as prosecutors to advocate for survivors and demand greater accountability for everyone.

Shane Gillis’ ‘SNL’ Monologue Slammed as Sexist for Comments About Women
NBC News, Rebecca Cohen

Comedian Shane Gillis came under fire this week for his “Saturday Night Live” monologue in which he criticized women’s gym attire. Though Gillis drew a few laughs from the live studio audience after remarking that he “didn’t know women just dress like whores now,” the joke received an outpouring of backlash online. Many have called Gillis’ comments tone deaf in light of the recent reports surrounding a former Cornell University student who alleged that she was gang-raped at an on-campus fraternity house in 2024. Representatives for Gillis and “SNL” did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Cornell Rape Case Has Sparked a National Outcry. Can That Anger Shape the Midterms?
Ms. Magazine, Kathy Spillar

As young women shape up to be a deciding force in the upcoming midterm elections, many are speculating that the recent Cornell University sexual assault lawsuit could impact women’s decision-making at the ballot box. New polling on young women voters already confirms that the federal overturning of Roe v. Wade and the #MeToo movement inform the choices they make when voting; the midterm elections now offer women an opportunity to channel their anger surrounding the recent Cornell case into “tangible, meaningful change.” Ellen Sweet, former Ms. Magazine editor and coordinator of the Ms. Magazine Campus Project on Sexual Assault, wrote in a recent New York Times letter to the editor that there is a “public outcry for transparency and accountability that can’t be ignored.”

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez Launches New Centrist Party In Spain
The Guardian, Sam Jones

Miriam González Durántez has launched a new liberal-centrist political party in Spain, Democracia21, offering voters an alternative to the country’s dominant socialist and conservative parties. Her party is not the first centrist movement in Spain; Ciudadanos, founded in 2006, initially gained support before losing voters after shifting to the right. González Durántez says Democracia21 will provide a platform focused on issues affecting everyday voters rather than “fear, insults, or nostalgia.” She has criticized both major parties for failing to adequately address concerns such as Spain’s housing crisis and has advocated for controlled immigration, arguing that immigration benefits the country while emphasizing the need for stronger enforcement and clear rules for entry into the country.