Election 2012: Women Surpass House, Senate Candidate Records as Final November Slates are Set

With all candidates now chosen for the November 6^th elections, the number of women running for Congress has surged past previous records, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). Eighteen women (12D, 6R) will be candidates for the U.S. Senate, while 166 women (118D, 48R) are on the ballot for the U.S. House of Representatives. The previous records were 14 Senate candidates (9D, 5R) in 2010 and 141 House candidates (88D, 53R) in 2004.

“Not since the so-called ‘Year of the Woman’ in 1992 have we seen such a leap in the number of women stepping forward to contend for congressional seats,” observed CAWP director Debbie Walsh. “Many of the same factors are in play – the crucial first election after reapportionment and redistricting, news events underscoring the need for women’s voices in policymaking, and a presidential election year generating political excitement.”

More than twice as many Democratic women as Republican women will stand for election to the Senate and House this year. The Democrats start out with substantially more incumbents seeking re-election (6D, 0R Senators, 45D, 21R Representatives), but far more Democratic non-incumbents have also survived primaries. Among non-incumbent candidates who sought House seats, 57 percent of Democratic women won their primaries, but only 39 percent of Republican women did.

Women will oppose other women in three Senate races (CA, HI, and NY) and 11 House races. The total number of woman-versus-woman races for the Senate and House  is 14, just short of the record of 15 set in 1998.

With only 11 races for governor this year, just one woman (Maggie Hassan, D-NH) will be on the general election ballot. Whether Hassan wins or loses, the number of women governors will decline from the current six. The four current Republican women governors are not up for election this year, and the two current Democratic women governors both declined to run for reelection. Should Hassan lose, there would be no Democratic woman governor for the first time since 1996. The most women to serve at one time is nine, which happened in 2004 and again in 2007.

Seven women (5D, 2R) are nominated for lieutenant governor posts, and 34 (23 D, 11 R) for other statewide elective executive offices.

Complete information about women candidates in 2012 – along with background information about women in past elections – is available at cawp.rutgers.edu/summary.