US midterm elections 2018: Whoever wins, record rise in women candidates will be the story of the polls

Supporters wave "persist" signs during a campaign stop by United States Senator Elizabeth Warren
EPA
Kyung Lah6 November 2018

If a key story of the 2016 presidential election was about one woman, Hillary Clinton, a key story of the 2018 midterms is about many.

Some 235 women won nominations to be candidates in elections to the House of Representatives this year, way up from the 167 in 2016. In the Senate, 22 women won primaries, beating 2012’s record of 18.

For the governor races, 16 women clinched their state’s ticket, up from the previous record of 10.

It would be easy to assume many of these candidacies have been sparked by Donald Trump’s presidency. Certainly, many are Democrats, and the sweeping imagery of women’s marches has played its part. But the reality is more complex.

Kristi Noem: Republican candidate for governorship
@RepKristiNoem/TWITTER

So too are the individual contests in which these women are running. In South Dakota I met Kristi Noem, pictured, the Republican candidate for the governorship. Astonishingly, South Dakota is among 22 states that have never had a female governor.

Like many in this rural area, the first thing Ms Noem learned to drive was a tractor, when she was seven or eight.

The Women's March around the world

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A four-term congresswoman, former state representative, small business owner, farmer and mother-of-three, she starts each day with a punishing regime at a gym, where she also talks legislation with local members.

She appears to be a highly qualified gubernatorial candidate. But some men disagree.

“I had a few people tell me that maybe I didn’t have the right body part to be a governor,” she told me. “I said to them, ‘That’s unfortunate, but we’re going to win. And we’re going to do some really big things.’”

She is in a tight race with a male Democrat, Billy Sutton. The anti-abortion rights, pro-gun minority leader of the state senate was paralysed from the waist down in a rodeo accident in 2007.

He is threatening to block Ms Noem’s path to history. “Her and her team, a few months ago, thought this was going to be a cake walk,” a top Republican operative told CNN. “They don’t now.”

In a state where Mr Trump’s vote was almost double that of Mrs Clinton in 2016, the close contest has surprised many.

It anchors governor races in the “Tornado Alley” states of South Dakota, Oklahoma and Kansas. Democrats believe they could flip at least one with authentic, local candidates who appeal to lean-Republican voters.

Republican women make up just 10 per cent of Congress, and GOP officials are concerned about their party’s lack of diversity long-term.

Ms Noem will be hoping her campaign has saved enough strength to help her contribute to changing that number.

Kyung Lah is senior national correspondent with CNN. Live coverage of the midterms is on CNN International and CNN.com

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