Chile elects first woman president

The New York Times writes:

"Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist, a doctor and a former political prisoner and exile, on Sunday became the first woman to be elected president of Chile, decisively defeating Sebastián Piñera, a conservative billionaire businessman."

The Times also points out that this is the first time a woman has been elected without some sort of connection to a politician husband who helped get her there:

"Ms. Bachelet, a single mother who has juggled her career and the demands of raising three children ever since she entered government service little more than a decade ago, is the first woman in the region to win an election without an assist from the coattails of a more famous spouse.

Though doubts had been expressed about whether Chilean men would be willing to vote for a woman, Ms. Bachelet's margin of victory exceeded that of her predecessor and mentor, Ricardo Lagos, six years ago. He won narrowly, with 51.2 percent of the vote, and by an overall difference much smaller than the half million votes that separated Ms. Bachelet and Mr. Piñera."

Interestingly, it appears that the wealthier the population, the more likely the men were to vote for the dude candidate...and among the less wealthy, the more likely men were to vote for Bachelet.