Record Number of Women Win Senate Nominations in Primaries : Politics: But a little-known state senator from Washington breaks the record, not New York’s Geraldine Ferraro.

As expected, Tuesday’s host of primaries resulted in a record for the number of women winning Senate nominations. Unexpectedly, it was a little-known state senator on the West Coast who broke the record, rather than a nationally prominent New Yorker.

Democrat Patty Murray’s resounding primary victory in Washington state made her the 11th woman tabbed by the major parties to run for the Senate this November, topping the old mark of 10 set in 1984.

Like several of this year’s other women candidates, Murray said her decision to run was sparked by the contentious hearings that the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee held last year into sexual harassment allegations Anita Faye Hill lodged against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. The hearings, Murray said Wednesday, showed that “we need a U.S. Senate that looks like the rest of us so it can work for the rest of us.”

Currently, only two of the Senate’s 100 members are women.

Going into Tuesday’s contests, many political observers expected that former vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro would be the 11th woman garnering a Senate nomination. But plagued by questions about her finances and allegations of mob links, Ferraro apparently lost New York’s Democratic Senate primary to state Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams.

With 99% of precincts reporting Wednesday in the four-candidate race, Abrams had 37% of the vote, Ferraro 36%. In actual numbers, Abrams led by roughly 11,000 votes out of more than 1.1 million cast in the contest.

Ferraro refused to concede on Wednesday, pinning her hopes on what she claimed were 20,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted. Board of Elections officials said the number could be less. And even if that many remained, Ferraro would have to win the vast majority of them to overtake Abrams, which was considered unlikely.

The official vote count will not be completed until the end of the month.

In another surprise in the race, civil rights activist Al Sharpton finished third with 15% of the vote, edging out New York City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman, who had 13%. Holtzman had led the attacks on Ferraro, incurring the wrath of some national feminist leaders who argued that the upshot would be that neither woman would win the primary.

Abrams wasted little time shifting gears for his general election battle against Republican incumbent Alfonse M. D’Amato, rising early Wednesday to campaign at a Manhattan subway stop.

Questions about D’Amato’s ethics earned him the derisive nickname “Sen. Sleaze,” and Abrams left no doubt he planned to focus on that issue. “I want to go to Washington to shake things up,” Abrams told supporters Wednesday. “Al D’Amato has been in Washington shaking people down.”

In Washington state, the size of Murray’s primary win surprised most experts, who had expected a tight race between her and another Democrat vying for the chance to fill the seat of departing Sen. Brock Adams. Murray, a first-term state legislator, beat a former House member, Don Bonker, by 20 percentage points.

Murray, a Seattle-area resident, started out as an underdog last fall when she announced she would challenge fellow Democrat Adams in the primary. But then Adams retired from politics early this year following publication of allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

As the primary campaign progressed, Bonker often complained that the attention given to Murray in what has become known nationally as the “Year of the Woman” forced him to run against a movement, rather than an individual. Tuesday night he told reporters, “If you’re a woman, it’s a good time to run for office.”

In the general election, Murray will face Republican Rep. Rod Chandler, a 10-year House veteran from suburban Seattle. Washington state political analysts anticipate a close race.

Among the nation’s other women Senate candidates, four--including California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer--enjoy large leads in the polls.

In 1984, only one of the 10 women Senate candidates--GOP incumbent Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas--won in November.

Also in Washington state, Atty. Gen. Ken Eikenberry held a slim lead over Rep. Sid Morrison for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. A final result is not expected for several days because of a large absentee vote. The winner will face Democrat Mike Lowry, a former congressman.

Goldman reported from New York City, Conner from Seattle.

Senate’s Female Finalists

Here is the list of women nominated for the Senate so far this year. In the handful of remaining primaries, Maria Hustace of Hawaii is seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Democratic incumbent Daniel K. Inouye.

DEMOCRATS

Candidate State Opponent Claire Sargent Arizona John McCain (i) Dianne Feinstein California John Seymour (i) Barbara Boxer California Bruce Herschensohn Carol Moseley Braun Illinois Richard Williamson Jean Lloyd-Jones Iowa Charles Grassley (i) Gloria O’Dell Kansas Bob Dole (i) Barbara A. Mikulski (i) Maryland Alan Keyes Geri Rothman-Cerot Missouri Christopher S. Bond (i) Lynn Yeakel Pennsylvania Arlen Specter (i) Patty Murray Washington Rep. Rod Chandler REPUBLICAN Charlene Haar South Dakota Tom Daschle (i)

(i)=incumbent

Source: Center For American Women in Politics