WaPo: Record Number of Women Might Run for Governor in '18

A record number of women could run for governor in states across the country this year, it was reported Monday.

The Washington Post cited statistics from the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University that show 79 women are either running or thinking about running for gubernatorial positions. The highest number of declared female candidates for governor in any given year was 34 in 1994.

The numbers break down to 49 Democrats and 30 Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Gretchen Whitmer is a Democratic candidate for governor in Michigan. She was the state's Senate minority leader from 2011-2015 and served in both houses of the state legislature.

"There is a sense that if we don't run, then we won't achieve," Whitmer told the Post, referencing what she felt after President Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2016 election. "We won't have the communities, the states, the nation we want to live in and where we can raise our kids."

Debbie Walsh, who directs the aforementioned Women in Politics center, told the Post there is an attitude among voters who think legislative positions are better for women, since they require the ability to work well with others.

Walsh said voters often view women as "well-suited for legislatures, where it is collaborative. It runs up against the stereotype to see women as the chief decider, the place where the buck stops."

More than a million women marched in major cities after Trump was inaugurated last January to protest his victory in the election and to demonstrate their rights as females. That led to an increase in female candidates for all levels of public office for both the 2017 and 2018 elections.

The tidal wave of sexual assault scandals and allegations that came to light in 2017 has also given some women the confidence to toss their hat into the ring in elections nationwide.

In Virginia two months ago, for example, 11 Democratic women won seats in the State Legislature. That list includes a transgender woman named Danica Roem.

• Poll: Female Voters Favor Democrats Over Republicans by 20 Points
• CNN: Trump Inspired More Women to Run for Office