North Carolina is one of those states where voters seem to like women politicians. In some states, that’s not the case. States like Iowa and Mississippi have no women in Congress and have never had a female governor. On the other hand, you have states like New Hampshire, where there’s a female governor, two female senators, and an all-female congressional delegation. And remember, Hillary Clinton won one of the greatest upsets in U.S. political history when she came from behind to defeat Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary there.

We’ve seen more women in politics than average here, but not nearly to the extent of New Hampshire. We’ve had a female governor and two female U.S. senators. Democrats Elaine Marshall, June Atkinson, Janet Cowell, Beth Wood, and Republican Cherie Berry are all women who serve on the Council of State. In comparison, the percentage of women in the General Assembly looks underwhelming. Right now, only 22%, or less than a quarter, of the members in the General Assembly are women.

So, where can women make gains? Obviously, their biggest priority should be hanging on to Kay Hagan’s seat in the U.S. Senate. If Thom Tillis ousts Hagan in November, we’ll have two male U.S. senators for the first time since Jesse Helms and John Edwards were representing us. Of course, conservative women would certainly disagree. Indeed, feminism’s biggest challenge is that women are not on the same team and do not share the same priorities.

Moving over to the congressional delegation, Renee Ellmers faces a challenge from Clay Aiken. If Ellmers loses, women can make up for it by electing Laura Fjeld in the 6th district over Phil Berger Jr. or Mark Walker, but the chances of either of these scenarios happening is not very good, and almost unimaginable occurring at the same time. Republican Virginia Foxx will almost certainly be returning to Congress, but it’s possible her Democratic opponent will be former professor and civil servant Gardenia Henley, who is competing in a runoff against Josh Brannon, a 36 year-old software developer. In the 12th district, women scored a big victory when Alma Adams prevailed without a runoff. She is almost guaranteed to win in November and bring to Congress not only an additional feminine perspective, but an array of interesting and fun hats. In the 13th district, healthcare consultant Brenda Cleary is challenging Rep. George Holding, but the odds are very much against her.

In the General Assembly, Democrats recruited a slate of strong women candidates. First, Erica Smith-Ingram won an upset victory in the Democratic primary against incumbent Senator Clark Jenkins; she will be in the General Assembly next year.

In Senate District 9, Thom Goolsby is retiring and could conceivably be replaced by Democrat Elizabeth Redenbaugh, but the district should favor her male Republican opponent, attorney Michael Lee. A female Democrat, Jane Smith, will almost certainly replace a retiring male Democrat in the 13th Senate district, Senator Michael Walters. The same thing should happen in Senate District 40, where Joyce Waddell will replace fellow Democrat Malcolm Graham. And in Senate District 50, Senator Jim Davis might have to sweat a tough race against educator Jane Hipps.

Not all women running for the General Assembly are Democrats, of course. Tea Party activist Mattie Lawson lost a close race in House District 6 against conservative Democrat Paul Tine and is challenging him again this year. Republican Michele Presnell won an upset victory for a House seat in the mountains, but is being challenged by Dean Hicks, a Yancey County Commissioner and a male Democrat.

Some of the most promising women candidates are Democrats running in Wake County. In District 41, Cary Town Councilwoman Gale Adcock is challenging Rep. Tom Murry in a race that will probably be the most expensive House race of the cycle. And in Senate District 18, nonprofit director Sarah Crawford is mounting a strong challenge to Senator Chad Barefoot, which could see the most money spent in any Senate race this year. In House District 49, diabetes educator and Democrat Kim Hanchette is vying to replace Republican Jim Fulghum, who is running for State Senate; her Republican opponent is Gary Pendleton, a small business owner.

Next, there’s Robin Bradford, who is challenging Republican Charles Jeter for a House seat in Mecklenburg County. Bradford narrowly lost to Jeter in 2012, and the district actually favors a Democrat, but her campaign has been plagued with a number of problems, which could harm her prospects in November.

To conclude, if women sweep all the races where they’re competitive, they could go from less than a quarter of General Assembly seats to a little less than a third. And they’re almost guaranteed to increase their ranks in the congressional delegation by one. Of course, that’s still much less than 50% (and women are actually 54% of registered voters in this state). Still, that’s progress – especially if the women who end up winning happen to share your political views.

*Special thanks to the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation’s Candidate Tracker, which makes keeping track of all these races a breeze.

John Wynne

John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.