Our Campaign for Gender Parity
Close the Gap California (CTG) was founded in 2013 to close the gender gap in our State Legislature by 2028. When we began, women’s representation was tracking to fall to a 20-year low of just 22%. Now, California is the first major global economy to arrive at the cusp of parity, with triple the national average for women of color.
The impact our targeted recruiting has made could not be more clear: Today, 25 CTG Legislators are serving in Sacramento, and 18 of them are women of color.
Our Unique Strategy
We target winnable open and swing legislative seats years in advance. We selectively recruit and meticulously prepare diverse, progressive women to run via a one-on-one exploration process.
At a time when our fundamental freedoms are under attack, our nation needs a bench of rising leaders who deliver tangible results, model how to prioritize people over partisanship, and reflect the communities they serve.
Target
Open & Winnable Districts one cycle ahead
Recruit
Progressive Women
Explore
Winning Campaign Strategies
Partner
with Organizations & Leaders who share our values
Achieve
Gender parity in CA State Legislature by 2028
Close the Gap California is a registered 527 organization. We are not a political action committee and do not endorse, or fund candidates: We Recruit.
Read more about our winning strategy in Close the Gap California: Origins and Impacts, 2013-2025, a research report from the Center for American Women and Politics.
What We Stand For
We work only with women committed to these core progressive priorities:
Reproductive freedom
Public education funding
Combating poverty
Progressive women have transformed leadership in our state this decade. Bill by bill, committee by committee, they are setting the national gold standard for the more just and inclusive democracy our most urgent challenges demand.
We Cracked the Code in California, Now It’s Time to Expand Our Impact
In order to ensure a robust pipeline of women is ready to govern at every level for the future next generations deserve, we need to accelerate our investment in proven models.
We’re committed to keep recruiting progressive women for California’s State Legislature AND expand our winning strategy down ballot and nationwide. Learn about our new Power in Parity Initiative!
We’ve catapulted California from 19th to 4th among states for women’s legislative representation, and we’re just one seat away from parity. But progress is never guaranteed. With at least eight incumbent women Legislators exiting in 2026 alone, it’s an uphill battle to net – and keep – that final seat. Targeted recruiting will mean the difference between cementing a breakthrough or witnessing a backslide in the historic highs we’ve achieved.
Less than a decade ago, not even a quarter of our legislators were women.
Women’s numbers have MORE THAN DOUBLED since 2017!
Our goal: achieve gender parity by 2028 and safeguard it for future generations
2010s
2025
2028
Join us!
Become a donor today and join our passionate team of supporters committed to sending California’s Legislature more diverse, talented, and progressive women. Together we can achieve our goal of lasting, reflective gender parity.
