Gloria Totten
Encyclopedia
Gloria Totten is the president and executive director of Progressive Majority
, an American
political organization that works to elect progressive
political candidates at the state and local levels. Prior to that, Gloria served as political director of NARAL, where she oversaw the organization's electoral and grassroots work and managed its 27 state affiliates. She has also authored several news articles and chapters in books advocating for the Progressive movement. She serves on the Boards of Directors for Advocates for Youth, Gadflyer.com and True Majority ACTION PAC. She is the President of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and an Advisory Committee Member for the Women's Information Network, the Drum Major Institute Scholars Program and Wellstone Action. Gloria was named a "Rising Star of Politics" in 2002 by Campaigns & Elections magazine.
at age nine, conducted her first precinct caucus training at age 19, and led her first candidate training at age 21. Totten also worked as the education director for Pro-Choice Resources, as president and lobbyist for the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and as a grassroots organizer on campaigns from the presidential to mayoral levels.
NARAL from 1993-1996. During her tenure, she served as the organization's chief lobbyist and strategist, chairperson for the state pro-choice coalition, director of the political action committee, and was responsible for raising the annual operating and program budgets. She served as the affiliate representative to the national NARAL Pro-Choice America Board of Directors, and her affiliate received numerous awards during her tenure there, including the 1993 Campus Organizing Award, 1994 Diversity Organizing Award and 1995 Outstanding Affiliate Award.
In 1996, Totten took a position with NARAL's national office as its political director. While there, she worked to develop the organization's first nationwide pro-choice voter file, which consisted of 2.9 million pro-choice
identified voters in 2000. She also devised all of NARAL's advocacy campaigns, including numerous ballot initiative campaigns, legislative battles, and the Stop Ashcroft
! campaign in 2001. During the 2000 elections, she created and implemented a US$12 million electoral program, with campaigns in 16 states for the Presidential contest, eight Senate races, and 24 House races.
in control of redistricting
.
Progressive Majority
Progressive Majority is an American political group that recruits, trains, and elects progressive politicians to state and local offices. It was founded in 1999 by leaders from organized labor, members of Congress, and progressive donors as a multi-issue political action committee to enhance the...
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political organization that works to elect progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
political candidates at the state and local levels. Prior to that, Gloria served as political director of NARAL, where she oversaw the organization's electoral and grassroots work and managed its 27 state affiliates. She has also authored several news articles and chapters in books advocating for the Progressive movement. She serves on the Boards of Directors for Advocates for Youth, Gadflyer.com and True Majority ACTION PAC. She is the President of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and an Advisory Committee Member for the Women's Information Network, the Drum Major Institute Scholars Program and Wellstone Action. Gloria was named a "Rising Star of Politics" in 2002 by Campaigns & Elections magazine.
Early life
Gloria Totten got involved with progressive politics at an early age. She attended her first precinct caucus in her home state of MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
at age nine, conducted her first precinct caucus training at age 19, and led her first candidate training at age 21. Totten also worked as the education director for Pro-Choice Resources, as president and lobbyist for the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and as a grassroots organizer on campaigns from the presidential to mayoral levels.
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Totten first worked with NARAL as the executive director of MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
NARAL from 1993-1996. During her tenure, she served as the organization's chief lobbyist and strategist, chairperson for the state pro-choice coalition, director of the political action committee, and was responsible for raising the annual operating and program budgets. She served as the affiliate representative to the national NARAL Pro-Choice America Board of Directors, and her affiliate received numerous awards during her tenure there, including the 1993 Campus Organizing Award, 1994 Diversity Organizing Award and 1995 Outstanding Affiliate Award.
In 1996, Totten took a position with NARAL's national office as its political director. While there, she worked to develop the organization's first nationwide pro-choice voter file, which consisted of 2.9 million pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
identified voters in 2000. She also devised all of NARAL's advocacy campaigns, including numerous ballot initiative campaigns, legislative battles, and the Stop Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
! campaign in 2001. During the 2000 elections, she created and implemented a US$12 million electoral program, with campaigns in 16 states for the Presidential contest, eight Senate races, and 24 House races.
Progressive Majority
In 2001, Totten was recruited to head the newly created group Progressive Majority, which was designed to help elect progressive candidates at all levels of the US government. Since its inception, Progressive Majority has elected 272 candidates and has built up a "farm team" of almost 500 potential candidates. Under her leadership, the organization has expanded to eight states, and has developed into the most comprehensive national progressive candidate recruitment program in the country. Gloria also worked to establish Progressive Majority's Racial Justice Campaign, which works to elect candidates of color and increase the diversity of local and state governments. Her stated aim is to "take back the state legislatures, and then take those states off the table in national elections." Progressive Majority's ultimate goal, though, is to take over state legislatures by 2010 in order to put DemocratsDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in control of redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
.