Kris Schultz

With a Congressional directory sitting on my desk, I started flipping through the pages. Looking at the names of the U. S. Senate Chiefs of Staff (CoS), I simply counted how many are women. My directory perusal yielded 23 out of 100.

Of the 14 female U.S. Senators, 6 have a female CoS. Of the 5 Republican female Senators, only 1 has a female CoS, and of 9 Democratic female Senators, 5 have a female CoS.

Though the 2006 elections are a year away, many already prepare for the 2008 Presidential Elections by throwing names like Clinton and Rice around. The White House Project and the TV show Commander In Chief ignite more discussions of gender and political leadership. But as a behind the scenes person, I’m equally interested in the numbers of females serving as campaign managers, press secretaries, and chiefs of staff. I mean, Karl Rove is doing something over there in that White House, isnt’t he?

Though we’ve come far in a generation, gender matters still have some evolving to do, especially when it comes to men balancing family life and work. Gender issues in the workplace are a frequent topic of conversation amongst my friends – as in “are female bosses tougher to work for?” to “with all our advances as women, guys still have an easier time in the workplace!” to “gosh, why is it in politics that many straight guys are married with kids, and by and large many straight gals seem to have no social life at all?”

At recent soirees, I ran into old campaign trail friends - men - who are now serving as U.S. Senate Chiefs of Staff. I look up to both men, but was curious to know how many women shared their role. At another soiree, my friends and I were trying to name all 14 women serving as U.S. Senators, a number to us that seems far too low. We kept forgetting Senator Murkowski of Alaska, as we liberals pulling for Knowles blocked her from our brains… but I digress.

DISCLAIMERS: The directory I used is probably out of date. Regard this as a snapshot in time, probably printed in the late spring of 2005. As a “Kris,” I also understand that names should be construed as gender neutral. Using my best albeit subjective judgment, I googled and yahooed my way through references to the CoS in news articles or press releases to best establish CoS gender. I did not call one single Senate office to confirm the names or the genders of the current CoS. Also, regarding NJ, I kept Governor-Elect Corzine on the list and Senator-to-Be Menendez out. If you know the name and gender of Senator Menendez’s CoS, feel free to update me. Heck, feel free to update me on any of my mistakes. I would like to reflect the true genders of all CoS in the U.S. Senate.

Here is my (surely not 100% up to date) analysis from a Congressional directory from the 109th Congress, 1st Session, in no typically organized fashion:

Party/Senator's Name/Gender of CoS:

1. R Chambliss M
2. D Stabenow M
3. R Thomas M
4. R Shelby M
5. R Sessions M
6. R Stevens M
7. R Murkowski M
8. R McCain M
9. R Kyl M
10. D Pryor M
11. D Feinstein M
12. R Allard M
13. D Salazar M
14. D Biden M
15. D Carper M
16. D Nelson M
17. R Martinez M
18. R Isakson M
19. D Inouye M
20. D Akaka M
21. R Craig M
22. R Crapo M
23. D Durbin M
24. D Obama M
25. R Lugar M
26. D Bayh M
27. R Grassley M
28. D Harkin M
29. R Brownback M
30. R McConnell M
31. R Bunning M
32. R Vitter M
33. R Snowe M
34. R Collins M
35. D Kerry M
36. D Levin M
37. D Dayton M
38. R Coleman M
39. R Cochran M
40. R Lott M
41. R Talent M
42. D Baucus M
43. R Burns M
44. R Hagel M
45. D Nelson M
46. R Ensign M
47. R Gregg M
48. R Sununu M
49. D Lautenberg M
50. R Domenici M
51. D Bingaman M
52. D Schumer M
53. R Dole M
54. D Conrad M
55. R Voinovich M
56. R Inhofe M
57. R Coburn M
58. D Wyden M
59. R Smith M
60. R Specter M
61. R Santorum M
62. D Reed M
63. R Chafee M
64. R Graham M
65. R DeMint M
66. D Johnson M
67. R Thune M
68. R Alexander M
69. R Cornyn M
70. R Bennett M
71. D Leahy M
72. I Jeffords M
73. R Allen M
74. D Murray M
75. D Cantwell M
76. D Kohl M
77. R Enzi M
78. D Corzine F
79. D Sarbaines F
80. D Kennedy F
81. D Dodd F
82. D Lieberman F
83. R Burr F
84. R Hatch F
85. R Warner F
86. R Frist F
87. D Dorgan F
88. D Reid F
89. D Byrd F
90. R DeWine F
91. D Rockefeller F
92. R Roberts F
93. R Bond F
94. D Feingold F
95. D Clinton F
96. R Hutchison F
97. D Boxer F
98. D Mikulski F
99. D Landrieu F
100. D Lincoln F

RAISING MORE QUESTIONS:
How many CoS are African American, Asian American, or Latino? How many U. S. Representatives have female CoS? How about targeted campaigns’ Campaign Managers? District directors, schedulers, receptionists, Press Secretaries? How many total hill staffers are female compared to male? Campaign staff? What about race and class composition of hill and campaign staff? My inner sociologist is stirring…