Is 2010 the year for women?

[BM]

I think this list pretty much covers the likely female candidates that have a non-negligible shot at having an impact on the race. The ones in bold are who I think have the best odds at actually winning their respective races (within this list).

Senate:

Cheryle Robinson (D-IL)
Martha Coakley (D-MA)
Robin Carnahan (D-MO)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) - facing election for the first time
Elaine Marshall (D-NC)
Jennifer Brunner (D-OH)
Carly Fiorina (R-CA)
Jane Norton (R-CO)
Linda McMahon (R-CT)
Sue Lowden (R-NV)
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Elizabeth Ames Jones (R-TX)
Florence Shapiro (R-TX)

Coakley, Gillibrand, and Carnahan will likely win. Brunner and Robinson will probably lose their primaries and Marshall will come up short in the general.  Ayotte, Norton, and Lowden seem like strong Republican candidates but are too unknown to predict. Fiorina and McMahon are interesting but I can't see them putting up much of a fight, though I'd love to be surprised by Linda. The Republican primary in the Texas special election will be too much of an insane bloodbath to judge now.


Governor:

Susan Bysiewicz (D-CT)
Alex Sink (D-FL)
Elizabeth Mitchell (D-ME)
Diane Denish (D-NM)
Catherine Corez Masto (D-NV)
Kate Marshall (D-NV)
Jari Askins (D-OK)
Deborah Markowitz (D-VT)
Barbara Lawton (D-WI)
Kay Ivey (R-AL)
Jan Brewer (R-AZ)
Meg Whitman (R-CA)
Karen Handel (R-GA)
Pat Anderson (R-MN)
Susana Martinezna (R-NM)
Mary Fallin (R-OK)
Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)


Hutchison, Denish, Fallin, and Handel are major frontrunners. Lawton and Markowitz seem to be as well, though I don't know much about those races. Whitman is a longshot but since she's a new face, a lot will depend on her campaign. The others probably won't make it through their primaries.



I like seeing more women entering high profile races. There are only four women governors right now, three of which are generally accepted as unimpressive. And two weren't even initially elected.