WUFPAC is a nonpartisan political action committee that supports women under 40 running for state and federal public office. WUFPAC’s mission is to elect women under 40 to public office so that women can achieve an equal voice in shaping public policy. WUFPAC is the only political action committee in the United States devoted to supporting young women of all parties running for elected office.

WUFPAC supports women under 40 because:

Young women need a voice in politics

Young women are virtually absent from Congress. Of the 535 Members of the House and Senate, 26 of them are under the age of 40. Only four of those members are woman. If you believe that a legislative body should look like the population it serves, then changes need to be made.

America needs young women in office to represent issues of special concern to women, such as education, work and family, breaking the glass ceiling, pay equity, child care, and reproductive issues, to name a few. No one can speak as effectively about these issues as young women. Having legislators who have faced these issues first hand in their own lives will help focus attention on these important issues. Women need to be in policy-making positions so that their perspectives are heard.

The legislative agenda does change depending on who sits in the legislative body. When women first became a significant presence in Congress in 1992, issues such as Family and Medical Leave and breast cancer research and funding made their way to the top of the political agenda for the first time.

We need more women leaders

In Washington, seniority equals power. Therefore, if more women enter political office early, they will have a greater chance of gaining key leadership positions later in their careers. For example, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was recently elected Democratic Leader after having served in the House for sixteen years. Prior to that, she was active in the California Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee. Had she not entered politics as a younger woman, she may not have had the opportunity to achieve this position of prominence.

We need women leaders in politics because the leaders shape the legislative agenda. Even as more women are elected to Congress and state legislatures, women are seriously underrepresented in leadership positions.

Until women have real seniority in Congress, women simply will not have the same power to shape the political agenda that men currently have. WUFPAC’s goal is to encourage young women to enter politics early in their careers so that they will have greater opportunity to become leaders.

Young women need the most support to win elections

Most young women who run for office are faced with significant fundraising disadvantages compared to men their age and older, more established women. Of the 7 women candidates who were under 40 in the 2002 election cycle, most were substantially outspent in the general election: their opponents raised between 5 times and 92 times as much money as the young women candidates did. The reasons for this are varied. Women still earn less than men in the workforce, and many young women choose to take several years off from their careers to raise children. The result is that many young women do not have the personal wealth to contribute to their own political races. In addition, many voters and political donors are still not willing to offer the same degree of political support to young female candidates. Young women need our help!

How WUFPAC chooses our candidates:

We don’t - our members do! During the primary season, WUFPAC identifies women candidates under 40 running for public office. We track their campaigns through the election, providing our members with regular updates. WUFPAC identifies at what point these candidates are most in need of financial assistance and then we ask our members how to distribute the funds WUFPAC has raised. Every WUFPAC member is given an equal voice in this process. WUFPAC provides a detailed profile of each candidate and the needs of her campaign to help WUFAC members make informed decisions. In addition, members are encouraged to write checks to WUFPAC candidates directly. 

WUFPAC currently only provides financial support to candidates for federal office, but we support state and local candidates by providing national exposure, endorsing their campaigns, and providing access to contributions from people outside their districts.

WUFPAC believes that women of all political points of view can add value in public office. Therefore, WUFPAC supports Democratic, Republican, and Independent candidates. Additionally, WUFPAC does not have a litmus test for its candidates. As long as a candidate is a woman under the age of 40, and is a viable candidate, she is eligible for WUFPAC support. Our focus is not on any ideological agenda; our focus is on bringing young women to politics.