Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Susannah Delano

92. Susannah Delano

The California Senate is assured of being majority female after this November, and the entire Legislature is on target to be so no later than 2028. If and when that happens, Susannah Delano will be one of the main reasons why. Delano is the executive director of Close the Gap, which recruits progressive women to run for office. Their success started in 2022, when a record 50 women were elected to the California Legislature, 20 of them Close the Gap alums. But that was only the start. Based on results from the March primaries, female candidates are all but guaranteed to fill 21 of the 40 Senate seats, the first such majority in California history. At least 30 percent of those women will have been recruited by Close the Gap. Why give Delano so much of the credit? For most of the time since coming on board in 2018, she was the organization’s lone full-time staff person. Who says one person can’t make a difference, eh?

Updated Aug. 7, 2024