Like most of New Jersey, I’ve been watching the US Senate race closely. As the founder of an organization that supports women running for local office, I am interested in the success of women in our electoral system. I know the difficulties that women face in running a successful campaign – the hurdles, the biases, the ingrained misogyny that affect every female candidate for office. It’s why I do the work I do – to help support, nurture, and fund women who otherwise would be overlooked by our political system.

Still, I have never witnessed the level of misogyny and sexism that I have seen in the New Jersey Senate race. To be clear, EVERY candidate needs to make their case. EVERY candidate needs to convince constituents that they have the grit, passion, and values to represent New Jersey. I am not asking us to hold women to a different standard. I am asking us to hold women to the same standard that we hold men.

You can disagree about county lines. You can disagree about how ballots are designed. You can disagree about the outsized influence of certain people in our politics. You can disagree about all of this and still feel as though, once again, women are being held to a higher standard.

Here are just a few of the criticisms I’ve heard leveled at Tammy Murphy:
– I like what she said but I don’t like what she is wearing.
– Does she really think a woman is the best person to champion women’s rights?
– She’s just here because of her husband. She’s just not qualified.

Tammy Murphy IS qualified to run for Senate. Tammy Murphy champions women’s rights. She supports Medicare For All. She works passionately to close the appalling racial gap in maternal-fetal health. She supports tax fairness and a system that ensures that the rich pay their fair share. She believes strongly that if we treat gun safety as a health crisis, we will have more resources at our disposal to combat the scourge of gun violence. She believes in protecting our democratic system. She is an LGBTQ advocate and a strong supporter of the environment. And, she has raised money, rallied, and canvassed for Democrats up and down the ballot in New Jersey and across the country. In doing so, she has built her own network of support by showing up and doing the work.

And let’s not forget that there are TWO women running for US Senate. Patricia Campos-Medina IS equally qualified to run for Senate. She too is a passionate advocate for women, for LGBTQ rights, for workers, for the underprivileged, and for all of the same things that we, as a Democratic party, value. And yet, the same narrative that declares that Tammy Murphy is not “qualified” also conveniently overlooks another female candidate entirely.

When we persist in evaluating women based on their appearance, race, or proximity to men, when we consistently ignore women candidates of color who are fighting to be heard, we are feeding the same system that has kept women out of higher office for so long. When we weaponize words like “qualified” or “likable” against women, when we unfairly judge women for taking advantage and making the best of their circumstances (as a man would), when we discount raising children, being a spouse, or, in this case, being First Lady of our State, as somehow disqualifying, we are perpetuating the institutional misogyny that keeps women from higher office.

At the current rate of progress, it will take us 190 years to reach gender parity. It’s time that we put aside the baseless criticisms and biases and evaluate candidates based on positions, values, and commitment to representing New Jersey. Like we do the men. Stop marginalizing women, and start electing them. Stop talking about electing women, and start actually electing them. It’s been 236 years in the making, it’s the right time.

Tricia Maguire is the Founder & Chairwoman of Elect Women NJ, but this is not an endorsement from Elect Women NJ. Elect Women NJ does not endorse women running at the state or federal level of government.