Longtime Emily’s List head Stephanie Schriock stepping down

Stephanie Schriock, the longtime president of the Democratic women’s group EMILY’S List, announced on Thursday that she will be stepping down from her post in March after 11 years in charge. 

“In its 35-year history, [EMILY’S List] has only had 2 presidents, and we take the search for our next president seriously. I’ll have more to share in the coming months,” Schriock wrote in a series of tweets. “But for now, I just want to say: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” 

Schriock, who was elected to lead the group as president in 2010, noted the organization’s strides in electing pro-choice, Democratic women up and down the ballot during her tenure. EMILY’s List has raised over $460 million to support its candidates and has elected roughly 1,000 women to public office in that time frame, according to Schriock. Additionally, the group has endorsed over 1,800 women and trained over 14,000 women under her leadership. 

The group announced on Thursday that its founder and board chair Ellen Malcolm will step in as Chair Emerita, while board member Rebecca Haile has been elected as chair of the board. The group will form a search committee to find a new president. 

Democratic women made waves in 2018, with a record number of women running for public office in the midterm elections. The party elected 89 women to the House that year, while 11 were elected to the Senate, according to the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University.

Two years later, Democratic women continued to be elected to federal offices, and were elected in large numbers to state legislatures, as well. According to CAWP, at least 1,480 will serve in state legislatures across the country.