Potential First for Women in Alaska and More Non-Incumbent Women Head to the November Election in U.S. House Races

Primary elections were held yesterday in Alaska and Wyoming, as well as a special election in Alaska to fill a vacant U.S. House Seat. In addition, Hawaii held primary elections on Saturday. The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, is tracking results for women candidates in these races. Full results are available on the Election Analysis page on the CAWP website. There are still a number of races featuring women candidates that remain too close to call, so this page will update as results are determined. Complete context about women in the 2022 elections, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, is available via CAWP's Election Watch.

Among the most notable results for women:

• Two (1D, 1R) non-incumbent women have won major-party nominations in general election contests that favor their party.
• In Hawaii, former state Senator Jill Tokuda (D) won the Democratic nomination in the open-seat contest in HI-02, a contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
• In Wyoming, incumbent U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R) was defeated in the Republican primary by Harriet Hageman (R), who was backed in the primary by former President Donald Trump. With Cheney’s defeat, there are now 17 (12D, 5R) women incumbents who are not returning to the U.S. House. Hageman will face Lynette GreyBull (D) in a woman v. woman general election contest currently rated as “Solid Republican” by Cook Political Report. If elected, GreyBull would be the first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. House from Wyoming.
• In Alaska, women are 2 of 3 (66.7%) candidates already selected to advance to the general election for the state's regular U.S. House contest. Former Governor Sarah Palin (R) and former state Representative Mary Peltola (D) have advanced already; they are also both competing in the special election for U.S. House. In addition, 2 (2R) women candidates remain in the running in the state’s top-four primary system, whereby the top four vote-getters, regardless of partisan affiliation, advance to the general election. The general election in this contest will utilize a ranked-choice voting system.
• In the Alaska special U.S. House election, two women – former Governor Sarah Palin (R) and former state Representative Mary Peltola (D) – are currently leading. Because of the ranked-choice system used in this race, results are expected to take some time to finalize. Either woman would be the first woman to serve in the U.S. House from Alaska, and Peltola (D) would also be the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Alaska.
• In the U.S. Senate race in Alaska, incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) and Republican Party-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka (R) have advanced to the general election, and one (1D) woman candidate remains in the running for the top four primary as votes continue to be counted.

For more information, see the full analysis of how women fared in yesterday's contests on our Election Analysis page. Complete context about women in the 2022 elections can be found on CAWP's Election Watch.