Female Democratic senatorial candidates are leading the charge to overtake Republicans’ narrow majority. Though Donald Trump’s falling poll numbers certainly boost the chances of a new Democratic majority, the odds were high that the pendulum would swing back in their favor this year. Democrats need to gain only four seats to gain the senate majority if Clinton is elected president, and five seats if she loses to Trump.
In five of the seven seats where Democrats have a strong likelihood of picking up seats, their candidates are women. According to The Guardian, “There is broad agreement on the states where Democrats have the best chance of picking up seats: Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio. In all but the last two, the Democratic candidate is a woman.”
Those candidates are: Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois congresswoman with a commanding lead over Republican incumbent Mark Kirk; Katie McGinty, a former environmental policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore and President Bill Clinton with a slight lead against incumbent Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania; Maggie Hassan, the Democratic governor of New Hampshire who left her seat to run against incumbent senator Kelly Ayotte; Ann Kirkpatrick, an Arizona congresswoman who may edge out 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain to become the state’s first female Senator; and North Carolina state assemblywoman Deborah Ross, who against the odds has inched over incumbent Richard Burr in polls.
The Guardian notes the possible historical significance at play:
“There are currently only 20 women serving in the US Senate — which is still a record number — including New Hampshire’s Ayotte, and retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland (where the Democrat, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, is expected to win) and Barbara Boxer of California (where the current state attorney general, Kamala Harris, is poised to be the second African American woman ever elected to the Senate.) If just two of the women in competitive Senate races win in November, the next Senate will have the largest number of women in the history of the country. If all six prevail, fully 25% of the Senate will be women for the first time. And, if all six prevail, women will be fully 44% of the 50 Democrats in the Senate.”
In other words, each candidate has more to offer than their gender, but if even two of these women win their races, history will be made.
(Via The Guardian & New York Times)