Women lag men in political donating. Why giving circles like J. Smith-Cameron’s could help narrow that gap

J. Smith-Cameron thinks she’s found a secret weapon.

J. Smith-Cameron thinks she’s found a secret weapon. For the past two years, the “Succession” actress has led a giving circle that pools donations from her friends, friends of friends and their friends — more than 400 strong so far in 2024 — to help flip state legislatures blue. And while most giving circle leaders aren’t celebrities, the majority are women — a stark contrast with the gender imbalance that typically characterizes American political donating. Her circle, called the State Fair, is run through the States Project, which was founded in 2017 to help shift power in state legislatures and has emerged as a major player on the left countering the right’s long-standing investment in state races. That dominance of women in the States Project’s giving circles — they are 82% of leaders and 75% of donors — is revealing when and how women choose to make political donations. And it reflects the heightened salience with which liberal-leaning voters, particularly women, are seeing state races, especially after Donald Trump’s presidency and the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. When it comes to traditional campaign contributions, women still lag behind men. Women were about 45% of donors to state House and Senate general election campaigns between 2019 and 2022, according to research from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University (CAWP). Their representation is even lower as a percent when looking at the total contributions to state House and Senate races; about 30% came from women, demonstrating how they often give in smaller amounts than men.