Women have won nearly half of the House Democratic primary races this year in 10 states stretching from the Pacific Northwest to the Tar Heel state.

On Tuesday, 12 women won Democratic nominations in Pennsylvania, Idaho, Oregon and Nebraska primaries.

Another two female candidates — Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson and Judy Herschel — were narrowly defeated for Pennsylvania’s 10th and 12th districts.

In the four state primaries held Tuesday, 43 percent of the House Democratic primary winners were women. The previous high in those states was 31 percent, which happened in the 2004 and 2014 cycles.

May 15 House primary winners by gender (PA, OR, NE, ID)

Cycle Primary Winners Female Winners Dem Women Rep Women % Fem % Fem Dem % Fem Rep 2018 54 13 12 1 24% 43% 4% 2016 49 7 6 1 14% 26% 4% 2014 54 10 8 2 19% 31% 7% 2012 55 9 7 2 16% 26% 7% 2010 57 9 6 3 16% 21% 10% 2008 61 8 3 4 13% 10% 15% 2006 55 8 6 2 15% 21% 7% 2004 54 13 8 5 24% 31% 19% 2002 54 7 2 5 13% 10% 18% 2000 71 6 4 1 8% 14% 3% 1998 57 6 2 4 11% 7% 14% 1996 64 4 3 1 6% 10% 3% 1994 58 7 6 1 12% 22% 3%

Overall, women won 24 percent of the major party primaries in Tuesday’s 54 House primary races. That matched the previous high in those states set in 2004.

The majority of victories by female candidates yesterday came in the 26 Democratic primaries.

Pearl Kim, a former Pennsylvania deputy state attorney general, was the lone non-incumbent female to win a Republican nomination Tuesday. Nebraska’s first-term Republican Senator Deb Fischer also won her primary.

House primary winners by gender in all states, 1994-2018

Cycle Primary Winners Female Winners Dem Women Rep Women % Fem % Fem Dem % Fem Rep 2018 230 66 57 9 29% 49% 8% 2016 828 166 119 46 20% 29% 12% 2014 828 163 111 50 20% 28% 13% 2012 840 164 115 47 20% 28% 12% 2010 932 145 90 48 16% 22% 11% 2008 907 148 95 39 16% 23% 10% 2006 869 146 95 40 17% 23% 10% 2004 883 147 86 51 17% 22% 13% 2002 933 144 79 45 15% 21% 11% 2000 1062 166 80 44 16% 20% 11% 1998 930 149 75 48 16% 20% 12% 1996 1011 154 77 43 15% 19% 10% 1994 917 130 71 38 14% 18% 9%

Note: 2018 data does not include Texas run-off races scheduled for May 22.

The wellspring of female victories within the Democratic ranks included Nebraska’s Second District race, in which nonprofit executive Kara Eastman edged former congressman Brad Ashford by 1,100 votes in one of Tuesday’s upsets.

Eastman’s campaign spent close to $300,000 to secure her party’s nomination, but spending varied among the winning female candidates ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries.

The top female spenders included Nebraska Democratic Senate candidate Jane Raybould, who won having spent nearly half a million dollars.

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Oregon’s Suzanne Bonamici won the state’s First District primary after spending over $400,000.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats Chrissy Hooligan, Jess King, Mary Scanlon and Susan Wild spent a combined $1.4 million — an average of $350,000 apiece — en route to primary wins in four congressional districts. (Houlahan and King ran uncontested).

But other female Democrats won primaries Tuesday having spent little to no money at all.

In Nebraska, for example, Jessica McClure took the First District with roughly $16,000 in outlays.

In Pennsylvania, former Jaguar executive Bibiana Boerio spent about $17,000 for the 14th District nomination, and fellow state Democrat Susan Boser, whose background includes assessing the state’s mental health and addiction services, spent about $3,500.

In Idaho, Boise realtor Christina McNeil won the First District without a dime in reported spending before the primary.

An advantage in spending was no guarantee of success on Tuesday. In his bid for the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s Fifth District, Rich Lazer received over $1 million in outside support. He finished third.

Republican Rick Saccone’s second loss for a congressional seat in less than a year — this time to state senator Guy Reschenthaler for Pennsylvania’s 14th District — was another surprise, if for no other reason than Saccone outspent Reschenthaler by roughly $1.6 million.

Correction: An earlier version of the story stated 13 women won Democratic primaries on May 15. The number was 12. We apologize for the error.



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