Former state Rep. Gayle Harrell of Stuart is in Iraq, where she was part of a seven-member group from the National Foundation for Women Legislators that monitored Sunday’s elections.

Harrell said she was inspired by Iraqi voters who were not intimidated by terrorists who tried to disrupt the elections. Harrell said explosions of home-made “bottle bombs” slowed down voting but didn’t scare away voters.

“They were not intimidated by this. They were very angry…They were in total defiance of the terrorists,” Harrell said by telephone from Baghdad, where she’s staying at the U.S. Embassy.

Harrell said her group was one of 19 international organizations approved by the Iraqi government to monitor elections. The National Foundation for Women Legislators has visited other countries to mentor women candidates, Harrell said.

Harrell said her group arrived in the international Green Zone in Baghdad last Thursday and immediately had to spend about an hour in a bunker because of nearby gunfire.

“That was our welcome to Baghdad,” Harrell said.

Watching Iraqis vote, she said, is “an incredible story. They are standing up to the terrorists. It gives you hope.”

Harrell was a Republican state House member from 2000 to 2008, when she left because of term limits and pursued a failed bid for U.S. Congress. She’s running for her old state House seat this year.

Tags: Gayle Harrell, Iraq

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