It’s Not Year of Women (Challengers) in Midwest

If this is the Year of the Woman, it may be ending all too abruptly for several Democratic challengers struggling to gain ground in Midwest Senate races against well-financed Republican incumbents.

In Kansas, challenger Gloria O’Dell has been unable to dent the prairie popularity of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole. In Missouri, a scrappy campaign by St. Louis City Councilwoman Geri Rothman-Serot has forced first-term Sen. Christopher S. Bond to work hard for his campaign funds--but has yet to bring her within striking distance. And in Iowa, Sen. Charles E. Grassley has shrugged off nominal opposition from state legislator Jean Lloyd-Jones.

“Even in a year when incumbency has become a tainted word and voters are angry at Washington, it’s still very difficult for a newcomer to go up against a well-known, entrenched incumbent--even if the challenger is a woman,” said Ruth Mandel, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

O’Dell, 46, an ex-TV journalist, found out the hard way how an underdog’s campaign can implode without cash and organization.

In one recent week, O’Dell’s campaign manager quit, leaving the candidate to handle day-to-day arrangements. Then, on a swing through Leavenworth, Kan., 30 miles northwest of Kansas City, O’Dell sat through a grinding two-hour local candidates’ forum, then was caught helplessly in a conversation with a long-winded supporter.

“I don’t think my real numbers are showing in the polls,” she said when she broke free. “I think I’m going to surprise some people.”

But the polls have contained little to cheer her. Dole’s support has floated between 55% and 60%, while O’Dell has not exceeded 25%. Dole’s campaign treasury, which reached $1.7 million by July, has dwarfed O’Dell’s meager $30,000, allowing him to blanket the state with virtually unanswered television ads.

Part of the problem facing O’Dell and other female challengers is that “the Midwest has traditionally been a hard sell for women candidates,” said Harriett Woods, who lost twice in bids to become Missouri governor and now heads the Women’s Political Caucus.

The Senate race in Missouri provides a glimmer of hope, with incumbent Bond’s poll numbers dipping at times below 50%. But challenger Rothman-Serot still has a difficult task.

Political observers say Bond has run a shrewd race designed to isolate his opponent while carefully distancing himself from President Bush’s reelection campaign--in the event that Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton carries Missouri.

Bond stayed away from the Republican Convention, criticized Bush for failing to confront domestic issues and recently cast several votes against the Administration.

Rothman-Serot can’t match Bond in fund-raising, but she hopes to get a boost from Clinton’s totals. She has also targeted more than 100,000 abortion-rights voters because an internal poll showed 58% of all Missouri voters consider it a cutting issue.

In Iowa, state Sen. Lloyd-Jones has consistently trailed incumbent Grassley, a popular figure who has built a strong constituent-service apparatus.

Says Woods: “We think that in all of these races, women are the best candidates. Realistically, we are more hopeful than confident.”