With an unprecedented 278 women running in Senate, House, and Governor races this year, 2010 has aptly been dubbed “the year of the woman.” Look closer and you will see that this surge of women is led by a number of businesswomen throwing their hats into the political arena.

In California, Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard is the Republican nominee for Senate, and Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is the Republican nominee for Governor. Across the country, Linda McMahon, former head of World Wrestling Entertainment is the Republican Senate nominee in Connecticut. Alex Sink, who used to head Florida Operations for Bank of America, is Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

Why is now the time for businesswomen to step into public service? Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island’s Democratic nominee for General Treasurer, offers her unique point of view.

Gina is a Rhodes scholar turned lawyer turned venture capitalist and co-founder of Judith Point Capital. Having launched her political career in 2010, she embodies this trend of businesswomen entering politics this year.

“I want to hold government accountable and help create a more efficient and effective government,” Gina explains. Trained with management skills, Raimondo has the unique ability to do just that. She explains that a business mind in politics is a tremendous asset, especially given the current economic climate. Businesswomen bring skills from for-profit endeavors they can apply to help create much needed jobs.

And, if we’ve learned anything from the financial meltdown of the past few years, it’s that business and government must work better together. Traditionally, government has been separate from the non-profit and business sectors. Leaders who cross sector divides will be most able to spur economic growth.

Gina offered an example of cross sector collaboration from her business career to explain this important point. “As a partner with Point Judith Capital, Rhode Island’s only venture capital firm, I helped create a company called NABSYS, which creates gene-sequencing technology. The idea started at Brown University and was leveraged by the private sector. It’s been amazing to watch it grow from that intersection of public, non-profit and private sectors.”

And at its core, Gina points out, “running a campaign is a lot like running a start-up — you need a great product, capital and a great team.” Businesswomen have the skills and ability to take on risk and persevere. On and off the campaign trail, the negotiation skills, ability to bring together resources, and most importantly, create jobs, are skills businesswomen bring.

Gina hopes that more women will join her ambitious goals in the political arena. “It’s daunting and it can be scary. But you just have to take the plunge,” she explains.