Washington ? Women are poised to take over a record number of governors’ offices this year.

With strong candidates from Hawaii to Rhode Island, women are good bets to emerge from November elections holding as many as 10 of the 50 governorships, twice the five they now control. Long-shot victories in any of another six states could push that number even higher.

As governors, women would become the dominant political power brokers in their states. Gaining statehouses would give them a breakthrough in an area of U.S. politics where they have lagged. They have made greater inroads in Congress, where women now hold 13 of 100 Senate seats and 60 of 435 in the House of Representatives.

The tide also would have national significance beyond state capitals.

A growing roster of women governors would increase the chance that the country might get its first female president. Americans tend to look to the executive experience of governors when choosing new presidents, not to the legislative experience of members of Congress. Four of the last five presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton and the current George Bush proved themselves as governors first.

“Unless you can elect women as governors, there is no opportunity to elect a woman as president,” said Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic nominee for governor in Kansas.

By winning governorships, women would show they are winning the trust of voters to handle large executive positions. That could be particularly challenging and valuable politically now, with states facing budget crises due to declining tax revenues.

And at a time when voting and participation in civic life continues to decline, seeing women gain power could help more Americans feel connected.

“It shows that a broader part of the population is involved in public policy and governing,” said Linda Lingle, the leading Republican candidate for governor in Hawaii.

Many female candidates this year have worked their way through state politics and are well positioned to move to the top job.

Most already hold statewide office. Among gubernatorial candidates are two lieutenant governors, two attorneys general, one secretary of state, three state treasurers, a statewide education official and an insurance commissioner.

There also is a former U.S. attorney general seeking the Democratic nomination in Florida, Janet Reno.

“They’re ready,” said Gilda Morales, a spokeswoman for the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “This year women were at the right place at the right time.”

Another factor could be a general hunger for change in state capitals wracked by budget woes or other crises.

“There is a desire for change,” said Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Michigan. “The real desire is for a change in policy. But underneath the surface, the fact that I’m a woman reflects change. People are very open-minded and truly excited about doing something a little bit different.”

Some women will be leaving their governors’ desks behind; of the five women currently serving as governors, three are moving on. Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull, a Republican and a Kansas University alumna, is prohibited by term limits from running again. Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, a Democrat, chose not to run again. And New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, is running for the Senate.

The two remaining incumbent women governors are in the middle of four-year terms: Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat, and Montana Gov. Judy Martz, a Republican.

The eight states with the strongest chances of electing a new female governor are Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Kansas, where polls taken before the Aug. 6 primary showed Sebelius with a big lead over Republican Tim Shallenburger.