Vote Mama Foundation at NCSL in Chicago

Our Policy Director, Louisa Duggan, was joined by our Director of Marketing, Molly Browning, and our Development Operations Manager, Tatyana McNish, in the exhibit hall, where we chatted with legislators and attendees about our work.

This year, Vote Mama Foundation shared first-of-its-kind spending data, examining how much campaign funds were spent on childcare expenses by state and local candidates from 2018 to 2025. Vote Mama Foundation is the only organization tracking the authorization and use of Campaign Funds for Childcare (CFCC) in all 50 states and analyzing their impact on government accessibility and diversity. The data is clear: when candidates can use campaign funds for childcare expenses, they do. However, our research found that while we have seen a 1,400% increase in usage over time, CFCC remains widely underutilized—with many folks not knowing this critical resource exists. That’s why we took our data to NCSL’s Annual Summit, because it’s the largest nonpartisan gathering of state legislators and their staff. The perfect audience to learn more about CFCC and how it can help more moms serve in state government.

We also proudly debuted our updated Politics of Parenthood research series, which examines mothers’ political participation rates in state legislatures nationwide. In 2026, 8.27% of state legislators were moms with children under 18. That’s a 5% increase since 2024, but still far below the 18% needed to reach proportional representation. Folks were shocked by the staggering underrepresentation of moms serving in state legislatures nationwide, and were interested in learning more about our work to center mothers in politics. Conversations like these are why we do the work we do: to raise awareness of a serious gap in representation. Vote Mama Foundation is the only organization tracking the number of mothers with minor children serving as legislators nationwide.

To cap off our week at NCSL’s Annual Summit, we were invited by the Women’s Legislative Network to host a policy roundtable conversation, providing a wonderful opportunity to discuss our research with state legislators and partners in a more intimate setting. This was our team’s favorite part of the summit, and we walked away with great feedback from women, moms, grandmothers, and more serving in state offices on what they need to sustainably serve their constituents.