RICHMOND, Ky. — Amy McGrath, who packaged her biography as the first female Marine to fly in an F-18 fighter jet in combat with a powerful anti-Washington message, won the Democratic House primary in Kentucky’s Sixth congressional district Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

Ms. McGrath, 42, campaigned vigorously in all 19 counties in the district that stretch into deeply Republican rural areas, and was able to raise an extraordinary amount of money without the backing of national Democrats, many of whom thought that her opponent, Jim Gray, the mayor of Lexington, would be the stronger candidate. Her win was the latest example of the strength of female candidates this year.

She’ll face Representative Andy Barr, a Republican who won the district by 22 points in 2016, in the November general election.

[Half of the women running in House primaries have won so far.]

“While it was my name on the ballot it’s really not about me,” Ms. McGrath said to a cheering crowd in Madison County, which her campaign sees as a vital area to win in the fall.