Tebelius abandons U.S. Senate race

Diane Tebelius, the woman who may have provided the strongest substantive challenge to Cantwell in 2006 has abandoned the U.S. Senate race, and endorsed McGavick.

Tebelius, who is a former DOJ prosecutor and is well connected in Republican circles, was also a woman. Cantwell already has a history supporting legislation supporting women, such as regulation of international marriage brokers and beefing up sex offender registration laws. And given the inclinations of Washington voters to support women in high offices (2 Senators and 1 Governor), I suspect gender will be a major factor in the outcome in 2006.