California, a strong Democratic state, has the interesting scenario of two GOP women, both corporate leaders, running for Governor and Senator in 2010.
Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is running for Governor, and Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, is challenging Barbara Boxer for her Senate seat.
Former Governor and present Attorney General Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are the leading Democratic candidates for Governor.
It is very hard to imagine either GOP woman winning statewide office, particularly Fiorina, who had a controversial tenure at Hewlett Packard and became a center of criticism as an adviser to John McCain in the 2008 presidential race because of some of her utterances.
But even with the crisis atmosphere in California government, it seems doubtful that the state would hand over governing to Meg Whitman over Jerry Brown in particular, who despite his long and controversial career, remains very popular as a populist type leader in the Golden State.
Certainly, a lot of money and effort will be utilized to try to accomplish what seems to be impossible–two GOP women in top positions in California. Were either or both to accomplish their goals, they would have to be added to the list of possible Republican presidential nominees in 2012 or 2016. But don’t hold your breath! 🙂