NYT/AP: Women Poised for Gains on Election Day
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 4, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo is giving female candidates one of the best chances to significantly boost their ranks within Congress and statehouses since the heralded ''Year of the Woman'' in 1992.
''I've been calling it the perfect storm for these women,'' said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. ''Before they even open their mouths, it's clear they are not your standard-issue members of Congress -- not white male, blue suit with red tie.''
''They look like change, and are seen as agents of change,'' Walsh said.
The ranks of competitive female candidates this year are lopsidedly Democratic, so they could play a key role in determining which party controls Congress and statehouses come January.
Of the 140 women running for the House, for example, 98 are Democrats. On the Senate side, 12 women are running, eight of them Democrats. The party is particularly hopeful for female candidates in two Senate races: Amy Klobuchar is favored to win a Minnesota seat held by retiring Democrat Mark Dayton, and Claire McCaskill is running neck-and-neck with Republican Sen. Jim Talent in Missouri....
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Women-Candidates.html