PHILADELPHIA — On Friday night, Katie McGinty stood on the stairs at Pennsylvania 6, a dimly lit downtown bar, and exclaimed, “We have some girl power in the house tonight!”
To the left of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful stood four incumbent female senators: Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii. The Keystone State marked the group’s second stop on a campaign swing to boost the ranks of the chamber’s female Democrats.
It was also the first time since the Democratic National Convention here in July that a group of female senators hit the campaign trail. The focus was on three battleground states — North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire — that could determine whether the Senate flips to Democratic control next year.
Six of the 11 competitive Senate races featured in Roll Call’s Election Guide involve major-party female candidates. Democrats running in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona could become the first women to represent those states in the Senate. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada would also be the first Latina senator.
There are currently six Republican women in the Senate, compared to 14 Democrats. The GOP incumbents have also hit the trail for their colleagues: Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Joni Ernst of Iowa campaigned together with Ayotte in March, and Ernst returned to New Hampshire in September.
Ayotte is also in the unique position of facing a female challenger, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. The race is rated a Tossup by The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report/Roll Call. Since 1960, only 13 other Senate races have featured two women as the top candidates, according to data from Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics.
This cycle has another element that sets it apart: the opportunity to campaign for a female president.
The events in Philadelphia, New Hampshire and North Carolina aimed to boost both Senate candidates and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
“I think the fact that we have a woman running for president has just sort of focused us in on the importance of adding women’s voices and experiences to the process of governing,” Stabenow said.