Next year may be an good year for female governors. | AP Photos Forecast: More female governors

2012 was a banner year for women in Congress, ushering in a record-high number of women to the House and Senate.

Next year may be an equally good year for female governors.


Thirty-six states will hold gubernatorial elections next year, and Democrats have top female recruits in at least five states who are poised to be their party’s nominee and competitive in the general election. Coupled with the four female governors who are running for reelection — three Republicans and one Democrat — observers say 2014 could see gains for women as states’ top executives.

“This is a year of opportunity at the gubernatorial level,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. “I think that there has been increasingly more and more attention paid to the issue of women in politics … there is some real potential here for growth.”

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While women have made huge gains in the House and Senate — there are a record number of women in the 113th Congress — they’ve had more trouble breaking into governorships. The record number of women holding governor’s mansions at one time is nine, in both 2004 and 2007. Currently, there are five: Republicans Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Jan Brewer of Arizona, Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, and Democrat Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.

Of those five, four are running for reelection and look likely to win another term. And of the new candidates, two or three appear to have a better-than-even chance of winning next year — which would bring the total number of female governors closer to the record.

According to figures from the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers, 27 women have filed for governor’s races around the country so far this year: Ten in open-seat races, 13 as challengers and four incumbents. That’s still lower than the record in 1994, when 34 women filed to run in governor’s races across the country, though there’s still plenty of time for other women to file.

The female candidate who’s gotten the most attention is Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, though she has perhaps the most uphill battle of the female recruits this year. She’s running in reliably red Texas and faces a well-funded opponent, state Attorney General Greg Abbott. But Davis has cleared the Democratic field and has the backing of the pro-Democratic women’s group EMILY’s List.

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Two states with top female recruits will see woman-versus-woman primaries. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Allyson Schwartz is one of the front-runners in the Democratic race to take on unpopular incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett. Also running on the Democratic side is former state environmental protection director Katie McGinty.

And though state Attorney General Martha Coakley is seen as the front-runner in Massachusetts’s governor’s race, she first faces a primary that includes national security expert Juliette Kayyem.

Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker will face former Trek Bicycle executive Mary Burke, who has cleared the Democratic field. It’s not an easy race for Burke against the well-funded GOP governor who survived a recall attempt in 2012, but Democrats are excited about her candidacy and think she can make the race competitive.

Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo, the state treasurer, hasn’t announced her intentions yet, but she has been raising money and is expected to jump into the open governor’s race there. If she wins the Democratic primary, she would be poised to do well in generally Democratic Rhode Island.

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There are others: Heather Mizeur, for example, a state representative in Maryland, is running in a crowded Democratic primary there.

Ultimately, perhaps two or three of these women are likely to end up in the governor’s mansion: Coakley, Schwartz and Raimondo, if they win their primaries, are set up to do well in their general elections. For Davis and Burke, the path is more difficult — but Democrats say they could still surprise in November 2014.

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“Nearly one year out from the historic 2012 election, we continue to capitalize on the momentum to elect more Democratic women leaders to office at all levels,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List. “It is inspiring to see so many incredible women leaders running to take over the governor’s seats — but not only are our women qualified, our women can win.”

Several top female recruits turned down gubernatorial bids. In Illinois, popular state Attorney General Lisa Madigan opted against a primary challenge to sitting Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, and Nevada’s attorney general, Catherine Cortez Masto, decided not to challenge incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval.

As for the incumbent female governors who are running again, most look to be in good shape: Fallin’s approval rating in Oklahoma hit an all-time high this summer, according to a July SoonerPoll.

Martinez, too, has sky-high approval ratings and has raised more than $3 million for her reelection campaign.

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Hassan, in New Hampshire, hasn’t drawn a GOP challenger yet. A survey from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling tested Hassan against possible GOP challengers back in April, finding her leading all of them by margins of 14 percentage points to 20 percentage points.

Haley faces what’s expected to be a tough a rematch with 2010 Democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen, but Republicans are confident she’ll be reelected in reliably red South Carolina.

“In some ways, the ultimate glass political ceiling has been governorships,” said Adrienne Kimmel, executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which has done extensive research on female candidates.