Women win primaries at a record pace
ATLANTA — Women aren’t just running for office in record numbers this year — they’re winning.
More women than ever have won primaries for governor and the U.S. Senate and House this year — setting a record and paving the way for battles that could increase the number of women in office and change public debate on health care, immigration, abortion rights, education and gun control. Some of those candidates also could be a factor in whether Democrats are able to take control of the U.S. House.
“Part of the reason I thought this race was possible, even despite great odds, was because of all the women who are so engaged in my community in a new way,” said Democrat Mikie Sherrill, an ex-Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor seeking a congressional seat in New Jersey.
Sherrill is one of some 200 women who have won their primaries for U.S. House, with 94 of those candidates surviving crowded fields with three or more candidates, according to an analysis of election results. Previously, the most women who had advanced were 167 in 2016, according to records kept by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
In the Senate, a record 19 women have won their primaries.
Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn is among them. She’s running against former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, to replace Sen. Bob Corker. A general election win would be historic for Blackburn, who would become the first female U.S. senator ever elected in the state.
Blackburn is a strong Trump backer in a state that voted for the president by 26 percentage points in 2016. She has run in support of Trump’s agenda, including his wall-building immigration crackdown and his U.S. Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh.
“We know what Tennesseans say that they want to see in their next senator is somebody who is going to stand with President Trump to finish the agenda that they voted for when they elected him and sent him to Washington,” she told her supporters after winning the August primary.
And for the first time, 13 women have been nominated for gubernatorial races in a single election year.
The numbers are likely to grow with nine states yet to hold their primaries. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham of Florida are among nine women running for governor who will face primary voters in coming weeks. No more than nine women have ever led states at the same time.
“We are seeing a level of enthusiasm among women voters that we haven’t seen in a long time,” said Democrat Laura Kelly, who is running for governor in Kansas and will need women, independents and moderate Republicans in her bid against Republican Kris Kobach.
There are a few instances in which women — in a sense — already have won. For instance, two women will be competing to replace GOP Rep. Steve Pearce in New Mexico and the same is happening in races in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Michigan. But overall gains also will be dependent on how well the 71 congresswomen running for reelection fare in November.
Success in November will go a long way to improving the nation’s dismal record of female representation. Currently, women account for just a fifth of 535 U.S. representatives and senators, and one in four state lawmakers. Six of the nation’s 50 governors are female. Meanwhile, women comprise slightly more than half the U.S. population.