Kicking through the political glass ceiling, one stiletto at a time

With the official announcement of Betty Ireland running for governor in the 2011 special gubernatorial election just moments ago and with Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s hat already in the ring, it seems only appropriate to discuss how female candidates will fair in upcoming West Virginia elections.

Yesterday, The Economist posted an article that piqued my interest, “The glass elevator in American politics.” Long has the belief been held that in the American political arena, women continually keep hitting their hair-sprayed heads against a glass ceiling, however, I’m happy to report that with the help of the spikes on our stilettos, we’re breaking through now more than ever.

Ronni Marie Abney of the University of California and Rolfe Daus Peterson of Mercyhurst College, studied down-ticket races in California and found “that voters are, if anything, biased in favor of women.”

“In the Democratic races, women fared much better than men. This might be expected, because voters seem to associate women with more 'liberal' issues…and Democratic primary voters tend to be liberal.” Regarding Republican primaries, voters tended to be more focused on issues like law and order and defense, which seem a little more “manly.” Even this did not put female candidates at any sort of disadvantage. According to the study, “A male name carried no advantage.”

That being said, we have two females running for West Virginia governor in 2011. One was the first female Secretary of State, and one is the current Secretary of State. How do you think both will fair against their male opposition and possibly against each other?

Ireland for Governor 2011!?

**UPDATE!**

Betty Ireland is expected to be a leading Republican for the 2011 Very Special Election for Governor. Several West Virginia GOP members (@WVGOP) met yesterday to discuss plowing the way for Ireland to run, including; new WV GOP Chairman Mike Stuart (@MikeStuartWV) and former Governor Arch Moore. Speaking of Moore, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito still tops the list for 2011 GOP gubernatorial candidates, because she can keep her House seat while running for Governor.

It's also rumored that Stuart would like to run for public office in 2012. Other GOP 2011 gubernatorial possibilities include Mark Sorsaia, the Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney. For more information on Sorsaia, check out Zac Taylor's story in today's Gazette (@wvgazette) : http://bit.ly/chT1dH.

Ireland and Pritt: Strapping on Stilettos in 2012?

Here’s an option I haven’t heard yet: Betty Ireland for Governor in 2012? Charlotte Pritt for Congress?

Everyone seems to think Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (@Capito4Congress) will run for Governor in 2012, but with the possibility of having 5 people sitting in the Governor’s seat between now and then, why would she want to? Her father was Governor, so continuing the family legacy in her father’s footsteps seems reasonable. But what will our beloved Mountain State look like between now and then? And with her eye on Rockefeller’s seat in 2014, why would she pass that up?

So what other Republican female has statewide recognition and could be strong contender for our first female Governor? Former Secretary of State Betty Ireland (@bettyireland). She’s “politically connected,” weekly Facebook updates and tweets that depict her as a lover of family, policy, and profession. Her latest tweet was about Governor Jan Brewer (@GovBrewer) and how they knew each other when they were both Secretary of State. Ireland was the first female elected to West Virginia’s Executive Branch when she became the 28th Secretary of State in November 2004. Winning that election proved she knows how to campaign to “likely voters,” so she’s got her media vehicles to all demographics covered.

Another former female politico who seems to be under the radar is Charlotte Pritt.

Pritt served in the West Virginia House of Delegates for 4 years,then went onto serve in the State Senate for two terms. In 1996, she became the first female to secure the gubernatorial nomination for either political party in West Virginia, running against Manchin. She also ran for Governor in 1992 but was defeated by Gaston Caperton. Does she have her eye on something in 2012?

2012 has been dubbed the year of the female in the political world, and these are two experienced West Virginia women that just might be strapping stilettos on and hitting the campaign trail.