Record numbers of women nominated for governor, Congress

A record number of women have won major party nominations for governorships and seats in the House of Representatives this year — a full month before primary season is officially over.

Democrats on Tuesday chose former Michigan House Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Kansas state Sen. Laura Kelly (D) as their nominees for governorships.

{mosads}That brings the number of women who have won major party gubernatorial nominations to 11 — one more than the previous record, set five times over the last quarter century.

Democrats have nominated women as their gubernatorial candidates in Idaho, Texas, Georgia, New Mexico and Maine. Republicans nominated Rep. Kristi Noem (R) in South Dakota. Incumbent Govs. Kate Brown (D) of Oregon, Kay Ivey (R) of Alabama and Kim Reynolds (R) of Iowa have all won renomination.

The number of female gubernatorial candidates is almost certain to swell in the month before primaries end. Women are close to the lead or leading races in Hawaii, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida and New Hampshire. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) is all but certain to win renomination.

“We’re not just breaking records here this year, we’re blowing through them,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers. “What we’re seeing this year is the whole reason why we want more women to run for office.”

Data from the Center for American Women and Politics show more women have won nominations for seats in Congress, as well.

When the polls closed in Michigan, Missouri and Washington state on Tuesday, a handful of women formally advanced to the November midterm elections, bringing the total number of female nominees above the previous record. Two years ago, 167 women secured major party nominations for seats in Congress.

Many candidates who won nominations on Tuesday are almost certain to return to Congress, including incumbents in safe districts like Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.).

Four women who hold House seats from Washington state — Reps. Suzan DelBene (D), Pramila Jayapal (D), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) — advanced to November’s midterm elections.

McMorris Rodgers faces a potentially strong challenge from Lisa Brown, a former state Senate Democratic leader. With thousands of ballots left to count, McMorris Rodgers had taken only about 500 votes more than Brown in the top-two primary, hinting at a close race ahead.

Herrera Beutler will also face a Democratic woman in November. The Republican narrowly led college professor Carolyn Long (D), 41 to 37 percent, with five other candidates splitting the remaining vote.

Democratic women won primaries on Tuesday and will face Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Mike Bishop (R-Mich.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) in the fall. Democrats also nominated a woman, Haley Stevens, to run for a seat being vacated by Rep. Dave Trott (R-Mich.).

And Democrats nominated women to replace former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), who resigned in disgrace over sexual harassment accusations. Detroit voters picked City Council President Brenda Jones as the Democratic nominee to fill the remainder of Conyers’s term and former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) to take over when the next Congress convenes.

Republicans picked insurance consultant Candius Stearns (R) as their nominee to replace retiring Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.). Stearns will face Andy Levin, Sandy’s son, in the heavily Democratic district in November.

Women are running for office, and winning, more frequently now than ever before, Walsh said. The first year in which women captured more than 100 party nominations for U.S. House seats was 1992; every year since, women have won more than 100 nominations.

“If women aren’t in these races, we’re not going to see more women getting elected. It’s a process,” Walsh said.

The number of women nominated by major parties for House seats will expand in the month until primary season is over. Hawaii, Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Louisiana all have primary elections ahead.