100 Year Anniversary

Presenting the Suffragist Shuffle: A celebration of 100 years of women’s suffrage on Feb. 13, 2020 at St. Pete’s iconic Shuffleboard Club for a night of live jazz, cocktails, food, games and more!

  The health and safety of our members and our community is paramount.  As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to affect more and more communities across the country, LWVSPA cancelled or postponed many of our events.  Event and committee meetings that can be held virtually will shift to conference or video call.  The coronavirus outbreak is an ever-changing situation.  We encourage you to follow guidance from reputable sources such as the CDC and WHO as well as that of your state and local public health agency regarding the appropriate course of action in your state.  

When it is safe to reconvene we hope to reschedule our Centennial event, Rock Down the House, in partnership partner with Girls Rock St. Pete, Black Crow Coffee, Tombolo Books and Squeeze Juice Works to host Rock Down the House, the Burgside premiere of the Girls Rock St. Pete documentary, with performances by former and current Girls Rock camp bands and a special screening of the 2019 documentary “Knock Down the House.”

Currently, the Women’s Equality Rally is scheduled for August 29.  We will update our calendar of events if it needs to be postponed.

Letter from LWVUS Past President

This is an exciting time for all of us.

For nearly 100 years the League has stood strong, growing into the vital force we are today: changing our political system and supporting millions of voters. Across the country, we continue to have impact in all 50 states, from local communities to the halls of Congress.

In 1920, our founder Carrie Chapman Catt believed that within five years, a League of Women Voters could give millions of women voters a crash course in civic engagement and launch them into the American political system.

The League was a safe-haven for women, regardless of formal party affiliation, to find their voices on issues that mattered to them. As one early leader described it, the League is “like a university without walls … whose members enter to learn and remain to shape the curriculum.” Over the nearly 10 decades of our existence, the League of Women Voters has applied the lessons learned in our earliest days to engage and empower all voters.

As we approach our 100th Anniversary we are reminded that government of the people, by the people and for the people, cannot function without active involvement of the people. Like our democracy, the League has been through prosperous times and lean times and the League remains a force for change today because our members and supporters have never lost sight of the importance of the voice of the people.

Even more important than our celebrated past or the impact we have in the present, are the hopes and goals we have for our future.

We encourage all of us to explore and celebrate our past, and shape our collective centennial celebration.

Thank you for all you are doing and all the plans you are making!

In League,

Chris Carson

LWVUS President

Wylecia Wiggs Harris

LWVUS CEO

Watch our video documentary below to see how we did it!

The League’s Campaign Finance Reform Action Group works to educate elected officials and the general public on the influence big campaign donors and allies have on public policy because St Pete is NOT for sale.  It also worked to pass an ordinance that banned super PACs and limited foreign investment in our local elections.  We accomplished that goal on October 5, 2017.  The ordinance went into effect on January 1, 2018.

An additional objective now is to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of that ordinance.  We will also work with other Leagues in their efforts to further Campaign Finance Reform.

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Read our press release celebrating the win and listen to President Julie Kessel’s radio broadcast interview with the Union Edge.

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Resources for Campaign Finance Reform:

CFR Presentation

CFR Unrig the System Brochure

CFR Brief History

Review the Full OrdinanceOrdinance SummaryFAQslegal arguments, media & more.

How corporations infiltrated the Supreme Court.  Check out this mini-documentary, produced by American Promise and Charlie Stuart.

https://www.facebook.com/LWVSPA/posts/1831028833587995