Women seen leading governors' races in Mass., Rhode Island

By Scott Malone and Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON/PROVIDENCE R.I. (Reuters) - Voters in five eastern U.S. states faced primary election choices on Tuesday, with Democrats in Massachusetts and Rhode Island picking among candidates who could become each state's first elected woman governor. Meanwhile, voters in New Hampshire and Delaware were picking Republican challengers to Democratic incumbents in the U.S. Senate. Polls prior to the start of voting showed Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Rhode Island state Treasurer Gina Raimondo leading competitive fields to win their states' Democratic nominations to run as governor in the general election. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, healthcare worker Amy Perlack, 28, said she had just voted for Coakley. "I like that she is a female candidate so there is some allegiance there," Perlack said. In Providence, Rhode Island, retiree Sheryl Vizvary said she had chosen Raimondo in part because of her success in helping to reform the state's public employee pension program, trimming benefits and angering some unions in the process. "She managed to go up against the state's old-boy network," Vizvary said. "It is time that we get a woman into higher office here." Coakley's top primary rival is state Treasurer Steve Grossman, with Republican businessman Charlie Baker seen leading his party's field. In Rhode Island, Raimondo has a narrower lead in polls over Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. The top Republican candidates are Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and software executive Ken Block. Some Massachusetts Democrats are wary about Coakley's chances in November, following her stunning 2010 loss to Scott Brown in a race to fill the U.S. Senate seat made available by the death of Edward Kennedy, but Perlack said she was confident Coakley had learned from that experience. "She may have taken it for granted that in a heavily Democratic state, people would just come out," Perlack said. "This time she is campaigning full force." Coakley would be the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts but the second to hold the office. Republican Jane Swift became acting governor in 2001 when Paul Cellucci resigned to take a post as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Brown also is on the ballot on Tuesday in neighboring New Hampshire in a three-way primary to win the Republican nomination to run for U.S. Senate, seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. New Hampshire voters also face a choice between Republican businessman Walt Havenstein and Andrew Hemingway, an activist in the conservative Tea Party movement, to take on Governor Maggie Hassan. In Delaware, businessmen Carl Smink and Kevin Wade are competing for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Coons in November. In New York, Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo faces a long-shot primary challenge from Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham University law professor and former Occupy Wall Street activist. Polls are due to close at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT) in New Hampshire, at 7:30 p.m. ET (2330 GMT) in Delaware, at 8 p.m. (2400 GMT) in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and at 9 p.m. (0100 GMT) in New York. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Providence, Rhode Island and Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Grant McCool and Will Dunham)