* This is a first for Illinois…

Along with over-the-top spending, the Illinois gubernatorial race may be setting another record, too. Women are leading the campaigns of the two front-runners. […]

Betsy Ankney is campaign manager for Gov. Bruce Rauner and Anne Caprara is campaign manager for J.B. Pritzker. The two women come to the top statewide race after honing their skills on some of the most notable political campaigns in the country. […]

Caprara, whose name has popped up as a player in the next presidential cycle, is a 38-year-old Philadelphia native with a degree from American University. She previously worked at Emily’s List, “so I had the best entry because women were being uplifted,” she told me. Having women behind the scenes of a campaign is just as important as being a candidate, Caprara said. “Female senior staffers can make critical decisions, they can talk to the candidate and affect policy. You want to be in the room when decisions are being made.” Before Emily’s List, Caprara worked for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, helping oversee U.S. Senate races in 33 states. In 2008, she was campaign manager for first-time candidate Betsy Markey, a D challenging a three-term R for Congress in Colorado. After Markey’s victory, Caprara became chief of staff.

Ankney, a 31-year-old Toledo native and Vanderbilt University grad, ran Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s campaign in 2016 when he pulled off an upset against Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold. She also ran field offices for Scott Brown’s winning 2010 U.S. Senate campaign in Massachusetts and Chris Christie’s first run as New Jersey governor. Ankney also worked at the Republican National Committee in 2012 and at the NRSC as a regional political director overseeing U.S. Senate races in the Midwest. She also got her start working for women in key positions behind the scenes, including Maria Cino and Mel Raines at the Republican National Convention in 2008 and Jessica Ennis at the Republican National Committee in 2010.

Politics isn’t the man’s world it was when Ankney and Caprara started. “You’re seeing more women are getting involved, taking on leadership roles and getting out of their wheelhouse (usually fundraising),” said Ankney, who for the past two years has taught at the Women’s Campaign School at Yale — a bipartisan education effort for women who want to run for office and run campaigns.