A woman of color has never been governor of any US state. But depending on what happens on Election Day in New Mexico and South Carolina, that milestone may be reached.
This and other notable facts about the upcoming 2010 midterm elections are detailed in the newly-released "Year of the Republican Women? Yes and No" from the Center of American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University. An excerpt:
A record number of women filed to run for the House and Senate, boosting the total number of women primary candidates to an all-time high, but many were defeated in primaries. This year's increase in primary candidates was due to Republican women, since fewer Democratic women ran for the House this year than in 2006 or 2008. Still, Democratic women continue to outnumber their Republican counterparts among general election candidates for Congress.
Democratic women seeking House seats had a much higher rate of primary success than their Republican counterparts. Excluding incumbents, who are rarely defeated in primaries, 37 of 80 non-incumbent Democratic women, or 46 percent, won their primaries, as compared with 32 of 113 non-incumbent Republican women, or 28 percent.
What's particularly exciting are the number of races in which the major party candidates are women:
[O]ne Senate race this year features two women running against each other. California incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer (D) will face off against former corporate executive Carly Fiorina (R)....
There are thirteen woman-versus-woman races for the U.S. House in 2010, along with the contest for delegate from the District of Columbia....
In two states, New Mexico and Oklahoma, both major party gubernatorial candidates are women; each state will elect its first woman governor.
Electing more women governors and senators matters beyond the obvious reason of seeing more women in higher office. Since the majority of presidential candidates come from either governors' mansions or the US Senate, both elected positions are a pipeline to the White House. CAWP reports that the 2010 elections could set another record:
Six women currently serve as governors. Two will continue to serve in 2011, a third is a candidate for re- election, two could not run again because of term limits, and one is retiring.
The record number of women serving as governors at one time was 9, set in 2004 and repeated in 2007. To break this record, eight of the ten 2010 candidates would have to win.
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