Record numbers of women running for office on International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!  To celebrate this year, I'm expanding on something I reported last year, record numbers of women running for office.  Last year, it was CNN.  This year, it's CBS Evening News.

A record number of women are running for office this year, including nearly 500 who have their sights set on the nation's capital. CBS News' Meg Oliver tells us about two female candidates who are hoping for big wins in Texas, which holds its primary elections Tuesday.

ABC News included a similar story on Nightline that focused even more on women running for Congress in Texas, noting the record numbers.

ABC News' "Nightline" met with three women, who were first time candidates and could make history if they won.

That's what the picture looks like in tight focus.  What about the entire picture?  NPR lists the total numbers of women running for the Senate, House of Representatives, and Governor across the country.

At latest count, 431 women were running for or were likely to run for the House nationwide — 339 Democrats and 92 Republicans. At this point in 2016, there were fewer than half that: 212. Likewise, 50 women are running for or likely to run for Senate, compared with 25 at this point in 2016. Many have not officially filed for office yet — filing deadlines have not occurred in many states. But thus far, this year is on track to break records.

In addition, the article has a graphic showing that 82 women are running for governor this year, up from ~28 four years ago.  One of them is Gretchen Whitmer, who is running for Governor in Michigan.

Democratic Nominee for Governor, Gretchen Whitmer stopped by WBKB to discuss her campaign and the bright future of Michigan.

I'm already planning on voting for her in the August primary so she can get the nomination.  I also plan on voting for other women running for office, so I'll be doing my part to make the political leadership here in Michigan more equal.