Dear Norm,

I'm wearing red today, because today is Equal Pay Day. This is the day designated each year to mark how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man made the previous year. Women working full-time and year-round currently earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, so today marks the day using 2009 figures that an average woman would finally earn what an average man made in 2009. In Ohio, this pay deficiency ($33,628 per year compared to $45,214) for women and their families in real terms means they could buy food for another two years or pay mortgage and utility payments for nine more months.

Ohio has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate. Ohio has never seen one of its women even win a contested primary for the U.S. Senate--Republican or Democrat. Until now, no woman who holds statewide office has run for the U.S. Senate. Imagine, if Ohio elects a strong, tested woman to the U.S. Senate, how much better its people's voices will be heard on issues ranging from support for small businesses to national child care and elder care policies to strong banking regulation reform.

I am proud of the work of so many women leaders and organizations to protect women's rights and move women forward. And I am proud to have the endorsements of these nationally known women and progressive leaders: Gloria Steinem, Ellie Smeal, Kim Gandy, Alice Cohan, Dolores Huerta, Caroline Kennedy, Siobhan "Sam" Bennett and Darcy Burner. National and local women's organizations supporting my candidacy to be Ohio's next U.S. Senator include: Women's Campaign Forum, National Organization for Women PAC, National Women's Political Caucus, WomenCount PAC, Feminist Majority PAC, ElectWomen Magazine, and eight Democratic county women's caucuses from Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Clark, Lake, Muskingum, Fairfield, Shelby and Morgan Counties and the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus.

So, I'll wear red today for equal pay for women, for progress and fairness in the workplace for women and all who seek a better quality of life. I'll wear red today to show I'm thankful for women--our mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends who have blazed the trail before us so that we might tread it with courage and keep it fresh for those young women so full of promise who deserve the very best we have to give them. Let's start by giving them an Ohio woman in the Senate.

Thank you.

Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Secretary of State and
Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate

P.S. - The primary election is just two weeks away. Please help me become the 18th woman in the U.S. Senate, and the first of many women Senators from Ohio, by volunteering, contributing, telling your friends, and voting in the primary election.

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