David Gregory: Professor Warren, why do you think Massachusetts has never elected a female senator?
Elizabeth Warren: I don’t know, but I’m trying to do something about that right now!
(Warren/Brown Debate, October 1, 2012)
Actually, the state's record in electing female candidates is worse than Gregory suggests. Besides never having elected a female senator, Massachusetts has also never elected a female governor. 33 states have elected one or the other; 10 have elected both.
Between the election of Margaret Heckler in 1966 and Nikki Tsongas in 2007, Massachusetts sent more than 40 individuals to the House of Representatives. One was a woman. During the turmoil over school desegregation in Boston, anti-busing activist Louise Day Hicks emerged victorious from an eleven-person primary with less than 20% of the vote. She served a single term.
Washington is a state with roughly the same population. It is far more congenial to female candidates In the past half-century , Washington elected two female governors, two female senators, and eight representatives (five of which were Republicans).
I will grant that Shannon O'Brien's campaign against Mitt Romney in 2002 and Martha Coakley's against Scott Brown in 2010 were both dreadful, but something else is going on. Would some Bay Staters like to take a stab at this question?