Linda Coleman gets nod from Lillian's List, amid talk of GOP 'war on women'

Linda Coleman, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, picked up the endorsement of Lillian's List of NC, a group that supports pro choice women at their fund raising lunch today in Raleigh.

More than 350 women attended the luncheon at the Raleigh Marriott Center City where many of the candidates they endorsed received campaign donations.

The group mainly endorses candidates for the legislature, has begun to endorse women for state-wide offices.

Coleman, the former state personnel director is a Democratic primary with state Sen. Eric Mansfield.

Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue called not only for electing more women to office, but also called for the defeat in the May 8th primary of Amendment 1, the constitutional amendment which bans same sex marriages and civil unions.

Passage of the amendment, Perdue said, “would be sending North Carolina backwards.''

Among those recognized for their services were state Sen. Linda Garrou of Winston-Salem, and state Rep. Jennifer Weiss of Cary, both of whom decided not to seek re-election after being gerrymandered into unfavorable districts.

“There is a war on woman going on,” Weiss said. “There is. Don't deny it. They are critical of poor women who have too many children. They cut funding for Planned Parenthood. They put burdens in front women who want to seek a legal procedure. And they say they want to divide and conquer poor people. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.”

She urged women to “storm the place” in a respectful way. “It's our state. We are going take it back. We are going to turn it around.''

Garrou said it is “unbelievable” the kind of issues women in the legislature have had to deal with.

“One of the hardest parts for me is that after every single vote, Republicans have come up to me and said to me, 'that is not how I really feel, but that is what we had to do,''' Garrou said, to widespread groans in the room.