“If we give everybody equal access to the things that will make them successful, everybody wins. And that means, also, people should have equal pay for equal work,” Lorie Masters told Women of Washington radio show hosts Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm.

Masters, partner at Perkins-Coie, joined Women of Washington to discuss DC voting rights, diversity, pay equity issues and her decision to run for the District’s first elected attorney general.

“I’ve been very involved … in DC issues … and really fighting for the rights of the citizens of the District. And when this position became open, I looked at it as an opportunity to continue that service,” Masters said.

If elected, Masters plans to bring her experience fighting for women’s equality to the attorney general position.

“I’ve been very involved over the years in women’s pay equity issues and diversity issues,” Masters said.

Masters is also passionate about DC citizens’ right to representation in Congress and to budget autonomy.

“I think that District residents, because we’re Americans, we deserve the same rights that everyone else has … Before we can spend our DC tax dollars, we need to get approval from Congress. We think we should be able, just like every other municipality, to spend our tax dollars … without first getting approval from the federal government.”

During the course of this interview, Masters also discusses her history working on human trafficking cases. In addition, she talks about her path to becoming partner at a major law firm, despite positions like this being held by women only 15 percent of the time.

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