Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver was recently featured on MSNBC’s list “‘30 in 30’: Women Candidates to Watch in 2014.”
MSNBC’s list featured female candidates from around the country in a variety of races, and Oliver said she felt privileged to be the only woman from New Mexico on the list.
Democrat Toulouse Oliver is running for New Mexico Secretary of State in November against Republican Dianna Duran. She has been active in highlighting issues important to woman voters, and has stressed the importance of getting women to the ballot boxes this November.
“I feel very honored, and I feel flattered that MSNBC chose to highlight this campaign and me, and I really hope that I can continue to do that justice,” she said.
As county clerk, Toulouse Oliver’s job has been to oversee Bernalillo county’s elections. Officials in the Secretary of State position do the same for the entire state, so Toulouse Oliver said she feels especially qualified for the job.
Her campaign is focusing on protecting everyone’s right to have unfettered access to the ballot box, she said. This is an issue that she said is especially important to woman voters, who didn’t receive the hard-fought right until 1920.
Toulouse Oliver said she is concerned about voting ID laws and rolling back early voting opportunities. The MSNBC article noted that Toulouse Oliver’s Secretary of State opponent, Dianna Duran, supports voter ID requirements.
“It really evokes the days when there were concrete barriers in place — sometimes literally — that prevented women from taking advantage of that right to vote,” Toulouse Oliver said. “So I’m really focused on reaching out to women on that issue.”
Toulouse Oliver stressed the importance of encouraging as many women as possible to vote this November because the races will be tight, and the candidates who are most dedicated to protecting women’s interests will need every available vote to win.
“With my fellow woman candidates, we are trying to appeal to woman voters statewide. Woman voters tend to be a very powerful voting bloc; women actually make up a majority — not just of the population, but of the registered voters here in New Mexico,” she said. “We know that when women turn out to vote, they have the power to really affect the outcome of elections.”
Toulouse Oliver also discussed the disparity between men and women both in elected office and as candidates. According to MSNBC’s “30 in 30” article, women make up only 24 percent of state legislators in the U.S.
Toulouse Oliver said she feels that the government should look like the people it is representing.
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She also said that she believes a large cause of this unequal representation is due to traditional gender roles in society. Many women who want to get more involved in politics and even run for office have worried about having to sacrifice taking care of their families in order to run, Toulouse Oliver said, and that can be a huge barrier to women who are otherwise qualified for the jobs.
She said that offering extra support for woman candidates is extremely important.
“I think encouraging women to run, asking them to run, offering to help support them in their run for office — these are things we can do … to help get those numbers a little more even with their male counterparts,” she said.
Toulouse Oliver said she hopes the MSNBC profile will give her campaign a boost, and help to educate voters on her candidacy and the importance of the office she is running for.
“I’m going to be a proactive Secretary of State who works to protect every voter’s right to vote, and to expand access to the ballot box,” she said. “Everything that I do in that office will be with those two goals in mind. If voters care about these issues, I would ask for their vote.”
Jonathan Baca is news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JonGabrielB.
