Only 2 women on Top 20 power list

"You are kidding."

Gayle Ruzicka, head of the Utah Eagle Forum, thought there must be an error. Only two women on a list of the 20 most powerful or influential Utahns?

"That really surprises me," said Ruzicka, who was one of the 20 most powerful people and ranked at the top of a list of people powerful enough to stop a project in its tracks, according to research conducted by the Deseret News.

"There are going to be some women probably get mad about that. I can think of a lot of women whose names I would have assumed would have been there."

But take a look at political leaders in the state and there are few women, she conceded. Maybe it's not so surprising after all.

There are no female congressional representatives. There is a man in the governor's office, a man in the attorney general's office.

There are a lot of women involved in the arts, education, other communities. "But I guess people think about who they see in the headlines, and political leaders across the nation and throughout the state are usually men."

Still, Bonnie Hansen Stephens from the arts community or Lt. Gov. Olene Walker seem obvious omissions, she said.

Former Utah Attorney General Jan Graham, who was one of the 10 most powerful people in the state, isn't surprised.

She had good fortune in winning two statewide races in Utah, she says. But not only did Graham consider herself a member of the wrong political party to be elected in conservative Utah, she noted she is also the wrong gender.

"Utah is still evolving in its comfort with women leaders," she said. "Improving, but evolving."

Does she believe her gender affected her ability to exert influence with the Legislature?

"First of all, I don't think it ever hurt me with the public," said Graham, whose two four-year terms in office came to an end in January. "To be honest, I think it (being a woman) was a problem for me in dealing with some members of the Legislature. Some of the members of Republican leadership are still evolving in their comfort in working with women as peers, as co-leaders, in accepting that women can possess and exert their own independence or power with the people."