We’re Watching How Women Running In Today’s Races Fare
According to Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, women make up 31 percent of all major-party nominees in House primaries so far this cycle. That is slightly lower than the share of female candidates who won their parties’ nominations for the House in 2020 (35 percent) but slightly higher than in 2018 (28 percent). And as for the Senate contests, women make up just 8 percent of all major-party nominees thus far, down from 31 percent in 2020 and 32 percent in 2018. But it’s still early in the primary cycle.
Overall, though, the share of women nominees in the House is largely keeping pace with that for previous years — although the party differences are stark in both chambers. Women make up 45 percent of the Democrats’ House nominees so far but just 19 percent of the Republicans’ nominees. And for Senate races, women are 14 percent of Democrats’ nominees, but no Republican women have won their party’s nomination yet. As we’ve written before, that’s in part because Republican women face more hurdles to earning their party’s nomination than Democratic women, including weaker networks and less financial support. The result is that women tend to make up a smaller share of Republicans’ overall candidate pool.
That said, although the GOP hasn’t historically invested in organizations that recruit and train women to run for office, there was a marked shift in their level of investment in 2018. New organizations like Winning for Women and E-PAC joined groups like VIEW PAC and Maggie’s List, which have attempted to mimic the success of women’s groups on the left, like EMILY’s List, in backing female candidates for office. So far, Republican women seeking office still lag behind Democratic women, but that could still turn around this primary season.
In Alabama’s Senate race, for instance, former Business Council of Alabama President Katie Britt has support from VIEW PAC, Maggie’s List and Winning for Women. And in Georgia’s 14th District, health care executive Jennifer Strahan has support from VIEW PAC. Strahan is up against incumbent Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has Trump’s endorsement, though. In addition to these races, Maggie’s List has also endorsed former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas’s governor’s race, businesswoman Vivian Childs in Georgia’s 2nd District and Suzi Voyles, who is the Georgia president of the Eagle Forum, a conservative interest group, in Georgia’s 6th District. None of these three women are incumbents.
Tonight, I’ll be watching these races (and more) to see how Republican women are doing:
How Republican women are doing tonight
Women running for Senate, House and governor and their results in Republican primaries or runoffs in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas, as of 5:27 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lillie Boddie | AL Sen. | 0% | 0.0% | — |
| Katie Britt | AL Sen. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lindy Blanchard | AL Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kay Ivey* | AL Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Beatrice Nichols | AL-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jan Morgan | AR Sen. | 2 | 0.0 | — |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders | AR Gov. | 3 | 0.0 | — |
| Catherine Davis | GA Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kandiss Taylor | GA Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Surrea Ivy | GA-04 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Meagan Hanson | GA-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Paulette Smith | GA-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mallory Staples | GA-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Suzi Voyles | GA-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lisa McCoy | GA-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mary West | GA-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Dominika Hawkins | GA-13 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Calina Plotky | GA-13 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Marjorie Taylor Greene* | GA-14 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jennifer Strahan | GA-14 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Cassy Garcia | TX-28 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Sandra Whitten | TX-28 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jenny Garcia Sharon | TX-37 | 0 | 0.0 | — |