Vote for Smith Is a Vote for the Future

I am voting for Christy Smith for my daughter’s future.

As we commemorate 100 years of women’s suffrage and reflect on how far we have come since 1920, I wish we could say that women are unequivocally in a better place now. Instead, women’s rights and roles in society are as precarious as ever.

Recently, The New York Times reported that the pandemic will take women back 10 years in the workplace. Between the closure of schools and daycares and the fact that women account for 56% of COVID-related layoffs (despite the fact that we constitute 43% of the workforce), we have backtracked on the progress made for gender equity in the workplace. This proves that women need fierce advocates in the halls of power to rectify the losses accrued due to the pandemic.

Christy Smith is the leader we need to take up the fight for women’s equality in the halls of Congress. She will not only protect the rights Republicans are trying to take away, but also advocate for policies to keep us women moving forward. When it comes to the workplace, Christy believes in equal pay for equal work. She understands that women are still paid lower wages than men performing the same jobs and recognizes that this disparity is even worse for women of color. As a working mom herself, Christy understands the importance of affordable child care and paid family leave. The responsibility of child care is disproportionately placed on women, which affects the trajectory of our careers. Christy will fight to make paid leave and affordable day care accessible to all women, so we never have to choose between having children and growing our careers.

When I look at my daughter, I see hope for the future and optimism about the progress still left to make. My wish is to leave her a world in which women are equals with their male counterparts. This November, the choice is clear. Smith is the woman we need in Washington to make our daughters proud. Vote early! Vote Christy!

Oana Cioaca Taylor Santa Clarita