OnPolitics: Gender bias persists in races with only female candidates

Hello, OnPolitics readers.

The public said goodbye to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Wednesday during a funeral at the Washington National Cathedral attended by world leaders, top Democrats, family and friends.

President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton eulogized Albright, who served as the first female secretary of state during the Clinton administration.

Biden called Albright a "force of nature" who through "goodness, grace and humanity turned the tide of history."

"Madeline understood her story was America's story," Biden said. "She loved to speak about America as the indispensable nation to her. The phrase was never a statement of arrogance. It was about gratitude for all this country made possible for her."

The president shared a front row pew with former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, the Clintons, Chelsea Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Guests in attendance numbered more than 1,400.

Albright, who arrived to the U.S. from war-torn Czechoslovakia as a child, was confirmed by the Senate in 1997. She died on March 23 at 84 after a battle with cancer.

It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington.

Women-only races don't prevent gender bias

A new report released by The Barbara Lee Family Foundation, an organization that advocates for female representation in politics, showed female candidates for office still experience gender bias even when men aren't in the race.

Women running for office often have to be seen as both qualified and likable by voters compared to men, whom voters assume are qualified. This double standard persists whether a woman is running against a man or another woman.

Female candidates are also judged more harshly on appearance compared to men.

But the report also showed that participants no longer viewed women running for office as strange or notable. Voters of color, Democrats and Gen Z are also more likely to support women candidates.

The report surveyed 2,000 likely midterm voters nationwide between October and November 2021, and oversampled Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Indigenous voters.

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Russia released US Marine vet Trevor Reed in prisoner exchange

Russia and the United States have carried out an unexpected prisoner exchange in a time of high tensions, trading a Marine veteran jailed by Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America.

The deal announced by both countries involving Trevor Reed, an American imprisoned for nearly three years, would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace. It was all the more surprising because it was done as Russia's war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades.

Who is Trevor Reed? Reed is a 30-year-old former U.S. Marine who was arrested in Moscow while on a trip in August 2019. Reed had been a Marine Presidential Guard. During the Obama administration, he was tasked with the protection of then-Vice President Joe Biden at Camp David. Reed was discharged from the Marines in 2016.

Reed was in Russia visiting with his girlfriend Lina Tsybulnik in 2016 when he was arrested. He was detained by police in Moscow after exiting a car on a busy street while allegedly intoxicated. Russian police allege that Reed grabbed the arm of an officer while in transit to the police station, causing the police vehicle to swerve into another lane. Reed’s parents and lawyers dispute this claim.

Who did Russia receive in the deal? The U.S., for its part, returned Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who’d been serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. after he was arrested in Liberia in 2010 and extradited to the U.S.

Despite Reed’s release, other Americans remain jailed in Russia, including WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan.

Jessica Watkins made history today as the first Black woman launched into space for an extended mission at the International Space Station. 🚀 -- Amy and Chelsey

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women candidates still experience gender bias when men aren't in race