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ERA: We need Awareness and Action in 2026

by Carolyn Maloney

In 1916, suffragists Alice Burke and Nell Richardson did something radical enough to shake a stalled democracy back into motion: they climbed into a gold Saxon motorcar—the Golden Flyer—and drove 10,700 miles across the country to demand voting rights for women. At a time when few women had driver’s licenses, or traveled alone, and women’s political participation was dismissed outright, their journey was nothing short of revolutionary.

They undertook that trip because the suffrage amendment was stalled in Congress. Public pressure had waned, opponents were confident they had won, and hope was dimming. Alice and Nell knew what every thriving democracy knows: progress doesn’t happen on its own. It takes visibility, courage, and persistence. So, they took the fight on the road, delivering lectures, rallying communities, and forcing the nation to confront the injustice of denying half the population access to the ballot.

Four years later, the 19th Amendment was finally ratified. But it took the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for all women to fully exercise that right—a reminder that progress, particularly for women and marginalized communities, is never guaranteed and never complete. And today, as reproductive freedoms are bulldozed away and equality remains fragile, that lesson feels especially urgent.

There was urgency in 2024, when a group of us, including leaders from the Tompkins County Democratic Committee, decided to do an ERA Bus Tour across the state. Our goal then was to raise awareness and activate supporters for the state ERA and to challenge Members of Congress to sign a discharge petition for a vote on the federal Amendment. The state ERA was approved by a whopping 64 percent and three Members of Congress who would not support the discharge petition were defeated. We took the lesson learned in New York and are now taking our messages across the country.

This Women’s History Month, a new urgency is being transformed into action. On March 1, the Golden Flyer II—a restored Saxon motorcar—will launch the Driving the Vote for Equality Tour, an ambitious national effort led by my organization ERA NOW with partner groups. Beginning in New York City and traveling across 25 states, the tour echoes the original suffrage drive and shines a spotlight on the unfinished business of American democracy: recognizing the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

For Democratic readers, the message is clear: we are at another hinge moment in history. The rights that generations fought to secure—reproductive freedom, economic fairness, equal opportunity, and the simple principle that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional—are under direct attack. We see it in court decisions, state legislatures, and political rhetoric that denies the lived realities of women and LGBTQ+ Americans. And we also know that elections in 2026 will determine whether the country moves forward or slips further backward.

At each of our Equality Tour stops, historians, ERA activists, and local leaders will share the story of the women who refused to sit still while democracy stalled. They turned movement into pressure and pressure into power. We must do the same. The tour isn’t just about awareness and education—it’s about activation. Supporters will be encouraged to sign the national petition at Sign4ERA.org, urging Congress to pass a joint resolution affirming the ERA’s constitutional status. With more than 75 percent of Americans supporting the ERA, this is an issue that unites voters across party lines—but it is Democratic leadership that has kept the fight alive.

And the facts matter: Congress passed the ERA in 1972. Thirty-eight states have ratified it. The legal requirements for adding an amendment have been met. What stands in the way now is political obstruction—not the law, not the Constitution, and certainly not the will of the American people.

As Democrats, we know that equality is not a partisan concept—but protecting it has become a partisan responsibility. The Golden Flyer II reminds us that democracy is a living project, one that requires movement, storytelling, and organizing. It requires us to participate—not just in voting booths, but in conversations with neighbors, club meetings, social media posts, and community events.

The suffragists didn’t wait for the perfect political moment. They created it. Now it’s our turn. The Golden Flyer is rolling again. Let’s make sure equality finally reaches its destination.