Do Women’s Issues On The Ballot Help Women?
Tonight, I will be watching to see how women candidates are doing in their primaries. And now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, there will likely be some renewed attention to women candidates this election cycle. On the Democratic side, EMILY’s List raises and spends tens of millions of dollars to help elect women who support abortion rights. And the group has endorsed several incumbents (Rep. Lauren Underwood, Rep. Marie Newman, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Gov. Kathy Hochul) in tonight’s races, as well as women in open primaries: Nikki Budzinski, a former adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in Illinois’s 13th District, and state representative Delia Ramirez in Illinois’s 3rd District. The group has also endorsed state legislator Brittany Pettersen in Colorado’s 7th District and physician and state Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s 8th District, both of whom are running unopposed.
Here are all the Democratic women running tonight whose races I’ll be watching:
How Democratic women are doing tonight
Women running for Senate, House and governor and their results in Democratic primaries and runoffs in Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah, as of 8:19 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tammy Duckworth* | IL Sen. | 3% | 100.0% | ✓ Won |
| Beverly Miles | IL Gov. | 3 | 5.6 | Trailing |
| Karin Norington-Reaves | IL-01 | 3 | 27.3 | Leading |
| Pat Dowell | IL-01 | 3 | 12.9 | Trailing |
| Jacqueline “Jacqui” Collins | IL-01 | 3 | 12.5 | Trailing |
| Terre Layng Rosner | IL-01 | 3 | 6.0 | Trailing |
| Cassandra Goodrum | IL-01 | 3 | 4.2 | Trailing |
| Nykea Pippion McGriff | IL-01 | 3 | 2.3 | Trailing |
| Charise A. Williams | IL-01 | 3 | 2.1 | Trailing |
| Ameena Matthews | IL-01 | 3 | 1.7 | Trailing |
| Janice D. Schakowsky* | IL-09 | 1 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| Madison Horn | OK Sen. | 2 | 32.5 | Leading |
| Jo Glenn | OK Sen. | 2 | 14.4 | Trailing |
| Joy Hofmeister | OK Gov. | 2 | 66.9 | Leading |
| Connie Johnson | OK Gov. | 2 | 33.1 | Trailing |
| Krystle Matthews | SC Sen. | 11 | 57.7 | Leading |
| Catherine Fleming Bruce | SC Sen. | 11 | 42.3 | Trailing |
| Diana DeGette* | CO-01 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Soledad Sandoval Tafoya | CO-03 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Brittany Pettersen | CO-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Yadira Caraveo | CO-08 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Robin Kelly* | IL-02 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Delia Ramirez | IL-03 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Marie Newman* | IL-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kina Collins | IL-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Nikki Budzinski | IL-13 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lauren Underwood* | IL-14 | 0 | 0.0 | ✓ Won |
| Litesa Wallace | IL-17 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Angie Normoyle | IL-17 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Marsha Williams | IL-17 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jacqueline McGowan | IL-17 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kathy C. Hochul* | NY Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
But notably, as Amelia and I wrote for the site last month, electing more women hardly means that Congress is more likely to pass legislation that gives women more access to abortions. After all, some of the staunchest opponents to abortion are women. For example, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (formerly Susan B. Anthony List) was formed primarily to elect anti-abortion rights women, and in 2020 the group boasted about its record success. Its president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, had been among those leading the charge to overturn Roe.
And tonight, SBA Pro-Life America has thrown support behind several incumbent female Republican politicians on the ballot, such as Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 3rd District, Rep. Mary Miller in Illinois’s 15th District and Rep. Stephanie Bice in Oklahoma’s 5th District. But the organization is investing in at least one open primary tonight, too — the one in Illinois’s 17th District. There, attorney Esther Joy King is facing insurance broker Charlie Helmick. This should be a competitive seat in November, too, as incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat, is retiring. In addition to support from SBA Pro-Life America, King has been endorsed by several GOP women’s groups (E-PAC, VIEW PAC, Maggie’s List, and Winning For Women), as well as the National Republicam Congressional Committee. King lost to Bustos by about 4 points in 2020, but she has the backing of national Republicans heading into tonight, and she also substantially outraised the six candidates competing for the Democratic nomination.
To be sure, SBA Pro-Life America hasn’t endorsed all Republican women running tonight, but here’s a look at all the races with Republican women on the ballot that I’ll be watching tonight:
How Republican women are doing tonight
Women running for Senate, House and governor and their results in Republican primaries and runoffs in Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma and Utah, as of 8:19 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathy Salvi | IL Sen. | 2% | 46.3% | Leading |
| Peggy Hubbard | IL Sen. | 2 | 16.1 | Trailing |
| Philanise White | IL-01 | 8 | 6.3 | Trailing |
| Malgorzata McGonigal | IL-05 | 2 | 54.1 | Leading |
| Catalina Lauf | IL-11 | 2 | 24.5 | Trailing |
| Susan L. Hathaway-Altman | IL-11 | 2 | 15.1 | Trailing |
| Cassandra Tanner Miller | IL-11 | 2 | 7.4 | Trailing |
| Andrea Heeg | IL-11 | 2 | 6.4 | Trailing |
| Jaime Milton | IL-14 | 6 | 11.4 | Trailing |
| Joan Farr | OK Sen. | 5 | 5.8 | Trailing |
| Laura Moreno | OK Sen. (special) | 5 | 1.8 | Trailing |
| Jessica Jean Garrison | OK Sen. (special) | 5 | 1.6 | Trailing |
| Moira McCabe | OK Gov. | 5 | 3.1 | Trailing |
| Pamela Gordon | OK-02 | 6 | 3.3 | Trailing |
| Rhonda Hopkins | OK-02 | 6 | 1.4 | Trailing |
| Stephanie Bice* | OK-05 | 6 | 73.8 | Leading |
| Subrina Banks | OK-05 | 6 | 26.2 | Trailing |
| Heidi Ganahl | CO Gov. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jennifer Qualteri | CO-01 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lauren Boebert* | CO-03 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Rebecca Keltie | CO-05 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Laurel Imer | CO-07 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lori A. Saine | CO-08 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jan Kulmann | CO-08 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Barbara Kirkmeyer | CO-08 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ashley Ramos | IL-02 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Niki Conforti | IL-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Catherine A. O’Shea | IL-06 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Karen Kolodziej | IL-08 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Regan Deering | IL-13 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mary Miller* | IL-15 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| JoAnne Guillemette | IL-16 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Esther Joy King | IL-17 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Becky Edwards | UT Sen. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ally Isom | UT Sen. | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Tina Cannon | UT-01 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Erin Rider | UT-02 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
How are Democratic and Republican women doing so far? According to the Center for American Women and Politics, women are 42 percent of Democratic House nominees, compared with 47 percent in 2020; and 27 percent of the party’s Senate nominees, compared with 36 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, Republican women are 18 percent of the GOP’s House nominees, compared with 23 percent in 2020; and 7 percent of the party’s Senate nominees, compared with 26 percent in 2020.