17 Comments - Roman - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:01 am: The bigger the field gets, the more welcoming it gets to a lone female candidate. - Amalia - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:21 am: ugh. just because a woman isn’t running for Governor does not mean that women aren’t trying for office elsewhere. A more interesting question is why is there such a difference in the Dems and Repubs when it comes to women running for office? look at the dramatic difference in women in congress by party….three times the number of Dem women as Rs. Also, if men faced the kind of blatant sexism when running for office that women face when running, heck face every day, they would find it harder to run for office too. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:24 am: === A more interesting question is=== It’s an important question, for sure, but it’s a question that’s been dealt with many times before. This question here is new. - Dave's Not Here - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:29 am: More proof that the hysteria after Trumps election was just that - hysteria. A temper tantrum because everyone was so sure that Hillary would win. - Robert the Bruce - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:38 am: Why J.B. instead of Penny? - FT - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:42 am: How about a little geographic diversity, too? Pritzker, Biss, Kennedy and Pawar all come from the same 12 to 15 mile swath of the north lakefront. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:50 am: FT, there’s a downstater running and mentioned above. Try to keep up. - lake county democrat - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 9:59 am: In theory you want to see some gender diversity, but this election the only woman the Dems should even think about running is Lisa Madigan I think Rauner would prefer running against Bustos, Kelly, or Steans than against a matching deep-pocket candidate. I’ll keep saying it for the infinitesimal value this message might have (if that): the biggest threat to the Democrats is if Pritzker and Kennedy destroy each other and/or a crowded race allows a niche candidate without statewide appeal to win the primary. - Honeybear - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:04 am: A female extended family member considered it last year. In a pow wow with the family it was determined that it put the family at too much financial risk. It would be too tough for her to leave her job and then to get another one if she lost. It’s a high price of entry. This doesn’t answer your question Rich but I think it does show a problem with the pipeline. Plus who would want to inherit this mess. - walker - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:04 am: The new women candidates are running locally, with many other new activist groups supporting them. We have a hew woman US Senator and some women Congress members. Almost half of those running for state offices on the Dem side are women. So the question remains: Why no women candidates for Governor? Part of it is likelihood to raise big money from the start. Part of it is statewide name recognition. But not every male candidate sits well on those criteria. Side note on the “hysteria” and “temper tantrum” comments: Unfortunate terms that might reflect back poorly on the commenter. That’s not what I am seeing. I wouldn’t bet against this new grassroots surge. - Earnest - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:11 am: I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t thought about this. I agree about Mendoza being a spark plug though I wish she didn’t have to be the one carrying the ball so much of the time in opposing Rauner. It would also be nice to see a woman in both primaries. - Annonin' - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:11 am: Since Madigan & Mendoza are runnin’ the state who needs to waste time runnin’ against BigBrain? - Precinct Captain - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:22 am: Maybe none of the potential women who could run see this as their moment to do it? Think back to Barack Obama running for U.S. Senate. It was basically do or die for his political career versus lawyering and teaching. That type of inflection point is not here for the women mentioned in your column Rich. - FIREDup! - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 10:41 am: Agree with Walker. MANY new faces are running locally and raising buckets of cash. There are several groups creating long-range plans for more female involvement. It won’t happen over night, but it IS happening. - Responsa - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 12:32 pm: Maybe Lisa could take her husband’s last name and try to run. But frankly, I think her time to run for governor has passed by. Her time was 2014. Too bad it didn’t seem doable to her and/or work out for all the reasons we’ve discussed here on many occasions. Many believe she’s done a good job in her current position and could have been a competent governor. But the Madigan name recognition is not a benefit anymore. Quite the contrary. - Juvenal - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 2:19 pm: Rich - I think you partly answered your own question. Steans is backing JB. She is the only woman in the GA with the independence to run. Outside of Springfield, there are not many women in politics currently with the political base to make a statewide run. Kelly, Bustos, Preckwinkle, Shakowsky. Unless you can convince Mary K. O’Brien to consider leaving the bench… As for having just been sworn in for Comptroller, Mendoza shouldn’t let that stop her. Poll, see what the poll says. Didn’t hurt Obama to launch his bid before he was even sworn in to the Senate. I don’t imagine it will hurt her chances if she is ‘drafted’. - Telly - Monday, Mar 27, 17 @ 3:56 pm: Carol Ammons? Woman, African-American, downstater. Also not lacking confidence. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.