Rep. Michell Lujan Grisham is one of four women of color to secure the Democratic nomination for governor this year. | Juan Labreche/AP Photo Women dominate in Tuesday primaries

Women racked up a wave of firsts as female candidates continued to dominate at the ballot box Tuesday in the most consequential primary day this cycle.

Two states — Iowa and South Dakota — are poised to elect female governors for the first time this fall after Republican women secured their party nominations. And women will make important gains in the House after posting key victories in New Mexico, Iowa and New Jersey.


The full effect in California is still unknown as several of the races involving women have yet to be called. But the latest results — eight states held their primaries Tuesday with nearly 100 women on the ballot for House, Senate and governor — reinforce the political muscle women are flexing in this election more than ever before.

At least 601 women are expected to run for the House, Senate and governor this year — record-breaking numbers on all accounts. What remains to be seen is whether female candidates can translate that wave of enthusiasm into gains in November, as women remain vastly underrepresented in both Congress and at the statewide executive level.

Women have dominated in Democratic primaries this cycle — and Tuesday night was no exception — but many are running in tough races against favored Republican incumbents or in GOP leaning districts.

“Every time we talk about firsts, it’s a point for celebration,” said Kelly Dittmar, a lead researcher for the Center for American Women and Politics. “But again, it’s a reminder that we’re still trying to achieve all of these firsts for women in American politics.”

POLITICO is closely following the gains and setbacks of female candidates through all 50 state primaries until the final polls close on Election Day. The Women Rule Candidate Tracker is a research collaboration with the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers-New Brunswick and the Women in Public Service Project at The Wilson Center.

In Iowa, at least one woman is poised to represent the state in the House for the first time ever after two female Democratic candidates cruised to victory in their primary contests.

Abby Finkenauer, backed by House Democrats’ campaign arm, will face off against vulnerable GOP Rep. Rod Blum in the fall. And Cindy Axne, who secured the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, will try to knock off GOP Rep. David Young.

At 28, Finkenauer would also be the youngest woman to serve in Congress if she’s elected. Iowa is one of five states that has never elected a woman to the House, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

Navy veteran Mikie Sherrill won the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s battleground 11th Congressional District race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen. Currently, New Jersey only has one woman, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, in its 14-member congressional delegation.

Democrats also posted significant wins in New Mexico. Current Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham won the Democratic nomination for governor and will face GOP Rep. Steve Pearce in November.

If elected, Lujan Grisham would be the first female Democratic governor of New Mexico and the first Democratic Latina governor nationwide. Current New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, was the first Latina to hold the statewide executive office in the U.S.

Lujan Grisham is also one of four women of color to secure the Democratic nomination for governor this year, following Stacey Abrams in Georgia, Paulette Jordan in Idaho and Lupe Valdez in Texas, and the most likely to win.

“Of the women of color running for governor, while [Lujan Grisham] has been getting less attention than Stacey Abrams, she’s in a race more favorable to her as a Democratic candidate,” Dittmar said.

Deb Haaland is on track to become the first Native American woman elected to Congress after winning the primary race to replace Lujan Grisham in New Mexico’s 1st District. Female candidates also secured both the Republican and Democratic nominations for New Mexico’s 2nd District, meaning two out of the state’s three House seats will be held by women next year.

In Alabama and Iowa, incumbents Kay Ivey and Kim Reynolds secured the GOP gubernatorial nomination in their states, respectively. Both Ivey and Reynolds were appointed to the governorship and if they win this fall, as expected, would be the first women elected governor in their own right in the two states. (Alabama elected Lurleen Wallace as governor in 1966 but she was largely seen as a proxy for husband, then-Gov. George Wallace, who was term limited in the position.)

South Dakota Rep. Kristi Noem won the GOP gubernatorial primary Tuesday and is poised to become the first woman elected governor of the solidly Republican state. But Noem’s promotion means South Dakota won’t have a woman representing the state in Congress for the first time since 2004.

In a setback for female candidates, Mississippi failed to make history Tuesday after all of the women competing in the GOP primary for the state’s 3rd District lost. Mississippi has never elected a woman to the House.

And incumbent GOP Rep. Martha Roby is headed to a runoff in Alabama against former Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright, whom she beat in 2010. Roby faced backlash from Republicans in the state after she called on Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race after release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in 2016 and vowed not to vote for him.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly said Alabama was poised to elect its first female governor this year.