National election trend seen on Central Coast

2018 is shaping up to be a record setting election year for women. Reports from the Brookings Institution and the Center for American Women and Politics show a historically high number of women running for government offices. And in California, a massive jump for women seeking state senate and assembly seats.

“Maybe it is the ‘Me Too’ movement. There is a lot of thing going on in society. But women in particular are stepping up and saying ‘for my interests I need to get more involved.” Political Analyst David Anderson, said.

With the California filing deadline Friday, we don’t know the full scope of the candidates, yet. But in Santa Cruz County, clerk Gail Pellerin tells KION there is no wave. We’ll call it a ripple.

“Maybe a little bit of an uptick in female candidates, but not overwhelmingly so,” Pellerin said.

While the exact reason for running is unknown, Pellerin says the push to run is different. “(We are) Hearing more conversations about that, where people are encouraging friends and family members to run for office”

Central Coast districts have a strong female representation in voting booth this November, with Congressional incumbent Anna Eshoo, and Anna Cabellero and Vicki Nohrden running for the State Senate and State Assembly.

“(There are) 53 districts (in California for the U.S. House). 33 of the ballots will have at least one woman on the ballot. I don’t know if that is a record or not, but it shows there are a lot of women in California running and getting on the ballot,” Anderson said.

The Monterey County election’s office doesn’t have these numbers, uet, but don’t be surprised if there is an increase here.

“This is the first time that are schools and special districts have consolidated with the general election,” Assistant Registrar of Voters Gina Martinez, said.

Anderson says women are more focused on our schools.

“They talk about education. Male candidates rarely talk about education.”

Nearly every school district election has a female candidate, sometimes the only person running.

Also, if an incumbent decides to not run for re-election, the deadline for that races gets bumped back to next Wednesday.

We reached out to long-time politian Assemblywoman Anna Caballero about the record female candidate. She replied with this statement: “For years, women have been hesitant to run for office at the same rate as their male counterparts. Finally, that’s changing. As a female elected official, I’m delighted to see so many women interested in running for public office. It’s about time we have more women in politics. Women’s powerful voices and unique skills bring a different perspective to the problems we face today. Interestingly enough, when I was Mayor of Salinas, we had five women elected to the City Council at one time. We were ahead of our time.”