As Democrat Hillary Clinton was getting ready to shatter a glass ceiling Thursday as the first woman ever to accept a presidential nomination from a major U.S. political party, Governor Gina Raimondo was preparing to return home to watch Clinton’s speech on television with her family.
Gov. Gina Raimondo speaks with Andrea Asuaje at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Raimondo, who shattered a glass ceiling herself when she became Rhode Island’s first female governor, said she was especially glad to have the chance to watch the speech with her 12-year-old daughter, Ceci.
“She wanted to do that with me, and that’s really special,” Raimondo told RIPR. “My mom’s going to be watching, I’ll be watching. Three generations of women. We are ready for a female president.”
Raimondo has described the way that girls regularly come up to her to tell her that seeing a woman in the governor’s office makes them feel that they can become governor too.
Clinton stumped for Raimondo during her bid for the governor’s office, and Raimondo has been a strong supporter of Clinton, even though she lost Rhode Island’s presidential primary to Senator Bernie Sanders.
During her Thursday night address, Clinton thanked Sanders for inspiring millions of people, urging his supporters to join with her to accomplish parts of Sanders’ agenda.
Later in the speech, Clinton spoke of her discomfort with the public part of public service, but she also portrayed herself as someone who is determined to make a difference, and who will stand up to those who would try to bully her.
“You know, being a woman in public life, I often look at her and admire her resilience, and I just give her a lot of credit because it’s incredibly difficult,” said Raimondo. “And she sticks with it because she knows it’s bigger than her.”
This report comes from the New England News Collaborative. Eight public media companies coming together to tell the story of a changing region, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
