The campaign trail can get rough.  Everyone starts off talking about how they want to restore faith in government, and work as a collaborator instead of a fighter. But as the months wear on, many candidates lose their resolve and denigrate into attacking each other.

When a man is running against a woman, they’re reluctant to attack her.  Attacks against women often backfire. Instead, they find a way to attack her without actually attacking her. The classic way to attack a woman is to say she can’t win.  To say that the choice is between the men who are running, usually the men who appear to have the most support.

Often, it’s the two men who appear to have the most support who perpetuate this belief. They want to suppress the vote against the woman candidate. But they know the truth: that in Massachusetts, though our record on electing women is very poor, the reality is that when women run, women win. That’s right: In Massachusetts, the odds favor the woman candidate.

So when you cast your vote for Massachusetts State Senate on Thursday, don’t think a vote for the woman isn’t going to make a difference. It’s going to make the biggest difference of all.