by Joseph Gerth, Courier-Journal

Somebody bring the poker chips. And don’t be surprised if you hear a beer belch from the voting booth come May.

The 2010 primaries in the Louisville mayoral race are looking a lot like a stag party.

So far no viable women have stepped forward to run in either the Republican or the Democratic primary.

Five businessmen and a male lawyer who are expected to be able to fund multimillion-dollar campaigns have announced their intentions. The only woman to say she wants the city’s top job is little-known community activist Connie Marshall, who isn’t expected to have the money to compete.

Virginia Woodward, an official with the Women’s Political Caucus, a nonpartisan group that encourages women to run for office, said she believes the problem lies with the fact that there aren’t that many women who have risen to key government positions that would set them up for a mayoral run.

“There needs to be a bigger farm team of women,” she said.

For only the second time since 1985, Jerry Abramson won’t be running in the race. People from across the political spectrum are eyeing the job with anticipation.

And it would seem that a strong female candidate would have a pretty good shot at wrapping up one of the nominations — especially in the crowded Democratic primary, where adding a well-funded woman to the field could allow someone to win with just over 20 percent of the vote.

Several names have been floating around in recent months, including former Miss America Heather French Henry and Mary Gwen Wheeler, a senior adviser to Abramson.

But Wheeler doesn’t seem likely to run since her husband, David Jones Jr., is on Democrat Greg Fischer’s mayoral campaign finance team. Henry was traveling Friday but her husband, former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry, said his wife probably wouldn’t have any comment about her interest in the mayor’s office at this time.

No woman has ever been mayor of Louisville, and Woodward doesn’t believe a top female candidate has ever entered the race.

According to a report last month by the Kentucky secretary of state’s office, Kentucky ranks 45thth in the nation in the number of women elected to office.

Even though nearly 53 percent of the state’s registered voters are women, there are only 21 women among the state’s 138 state legislators. Just eight of the Louisville Metro Council’s 26 members are women.

Joseph Gerth’s column appears on Mondays. He can be reached at (502) 582-4702 or at [email protected]. His mailing address is 525 W. Broadway, P.O. Box 740031, Louisville, KY 40201-7431.

To read the full article, visit:  http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091005/COLUMNISTS21/910050316/Mayor+s+race+is+short+on+women