NOW Leader Focuses on O'Connor Replacement - AP

NOW Leader Focuses on O'Connor Replacement
By COLIN FLY, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jul 3, 7:12 AM ET

The newly re-elected president of the National Organization for Women says she's ready to do battle over the replacement of outgoing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Kim Gandy, 51, was re-elected to a second four-year term Saturday, defeating challenger Rosemary J. Dempsey, who has held several leadership roles since joining the organization in 1970.

"The first fight will be the O'Connor replacement, which will be a battle only if George W. Bush makes it a battle," she said. "If he appoints an extremist, he will have a big fight on his hands."

The first woman on the Supreme Court, O'Connor was often the swing vote on 5-4 decisions supporting abortion, affirmative action and other contentious social issues. Her resignation Friday leaves Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the only woman on the court.

Gandy and former NOW president Eleanor Smeal, now president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, praised O'Connor as a moderate.

About 700 women were on hand to congratulate Gandy on her re-election bid, which included a slate of four officers. NOW spokeswoman Jenny Thalheimer said she would not have an official vote count until Sunday and could not estimate Gandy's margin of victory.

Gandy was first elected president of NOW on its 35th anniversary in 2001 after serving as executive vice president for 10 years and as national secretary from 1987-1991.

Dempsey, a lawyer from Connecticut who has been involved in NOW since 1970, ran on a campaign that stressed the need to attract more younger women to the organization.

Gandy said her group is working on that issue.

"We have an overwhelming number of young and diverse women leading some of our largest chapters across the country," she said. "We have enormous appeal as a movement to young women and it's absolutely critical to grow that emphasis."

NOW has about 500,000 members and 550 chapters across the United States.

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