Stacey Abrams, Marsha Blackburn, and Sharice Davids Getty Images; CNBC; Getty Images

It has been a record-breaking season for women in politics. First, a record number of women filed to run for office. Then a record number won their primaries. With voters heading to the polls on Tuesday, the most important record remains to be broken. Can a record number take office? Experts say women appear poised to make a wave in the House of Representatives. But their chances are less robust in other areas. It is less likely that women will set records in the Senate and in races for governor, said Kelly Dittmar, a researcher at the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. She added that among Republicans, it's likely that women will actually lose representation in the House. Women will have to take 85 seats in order to surpass the House record of 84 set in 2013, according to CAWP's tally. In the Senate, the number to beat is 23. In 2004, women won nine races for governor, a record that stands to this day.

But Dittmar said it's important to look beyond the numbers. "It's not a single narrative of women success across the board, but about certain types of women candidates," Dittmar said. The narrative, she said, is about "women of color, and the potential to increase racial and ethnic diversity in these offices." Indeed, in Michigan, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, facing no Republican challenger, is on track to become the first Muslim woman in Congress. In Minnesota, Somali refugee Ilhan Omar is also vying for the title. A victory for Omar would also mark the first time voters sent a Somali-American to Washington. Sharice Davids is favored by pollsters to make history as a lesbian Native American in Congress. She is poised to unseat Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder, who handily won election to his Kansas district in 2016. Another Native American woman, Deb Haaland, is also likely to win a seat in a Democrat-leaning New Mexico district that went for both Clinton and Obama by double digits. Democratic women are also positioned for gains in Pennsylvania, including three or more women who could crash the state's all-male House delegation. The state has never had more than two women at a time in its congressional delegation.