Today is a big day for women in politics.

For the first time (I think), a woman has declared her candidacy for the position of Mayor of Jerusalem, in the upcoming elections. Tat would be MK Rachel Azaria of the Kulanu party.

Does she have a chance? There are still a lot of candidates already running, and presumably more will still declare their intentions to run. As it gets closer to elections some of those candidates will drop out of the race when they see they do not have a realistic shot, and others will drop out after making deals with other candidates. It is way too early to know if she has a chance or not, but she definitely has name recognition (as do some of the other candidates) and most Jerusalemites will have a strong opinion about her, one way or the other.

In Bet Shemesh Aliza Bloch has announced her candidacy for Mayor of Bet Shemesh in the upcoming elections. She actually said that she is so far the only person to declare herself as a candidate, as even Moshe Abutbol has not formally done so. Does she have a chance? I have no idea. On the face of it, it seems very unrealistic, considering the numbers. It might depend on the negotiations between Degel and Abutbol and if Degel decides to run their own candidate or not. I think this might spur both of those sides to come to a more reasonable agreement and to stop fighting so as to avoid splitting the vote. Also, it might depend on how many Haredim in the city, especially in RBS C (Gimmel) are really upset at Abutbol to the point of being willing to not vote for him when the rabbonim will inevitably call on them to - talk is cheap and it remains to be seen if their complaining about Abutbol is just talk or is serious.

Some people are saying that she is an Abutbol plant, meant to put pressure on Degel to lower their demands. This was a theory last time as well when she split the vote last time - not in the ballot but in the city, as she caused, perhaps indirectly, many people to not support the other candidate after she dropped out.

Whether they win or not, whether they come close or not, this is still a big day for female politicians.