A Record Number of Women are U.S. House Nominees in Minnesota, But Gains for Non-Incumbent Women Likely Small Across Other States

Primary elections were held on Tuesday in four states: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Hawaii also held primary elections on Saturday. Full results for women in these races are available on this post on our Election Analysis page; there are no undecided races featuring women candidates, so these are the final results for women in the 2024 Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin primaries. Full context about women in the 2024 elections, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, is available via the Center for American Women and Politics’ (CAWP) Election Watch. 

Among the most notable results for women:

• In Connecticut, no women filed as candidates for the U.S. Senate this year. Connecticut will remain one of 17 states that has never sent a woman to the U.S. Senate.
• Both (2D) women nominees for the U.S. House in Connecticut are incumbents, and U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes (D) will compete in a general election contest currently rated as “Lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report. 
• In Hawaii, incumbent U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D) and incumbent U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (D) are strongly favored to win re-election in November. No non-incumbent women advanced to the general election.
• In Minnesota, incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) is strongly favored to win re-election in November.
• A record 10 (7D, 3R) women won major-party nominations for the U.S. House in Minnesota. Among them are all 4 (3D, 1R) incumbents and 6 (4D, 2R) non-incumbents. U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D) will compete in a general election contest currently rated as “Lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report, while the other three incumbents are strongly favored to win re-election. Among the non-incumbent women nominees, just one (1D) – state Senator Kelly Morrison (D-MN03) – is favored to win. 
• In Vermont, Esther Charlestin (D) won the Democratic nomination for governor. She will challenge incumbent Governor Phil Scott (R) in a race currently rated as “Solid Republican” by Cook Political Report. If successful, Charlestin would be the first Black woman governor in the U.S.
• In Vermont, no women filed as candidates for the U.S. Senate this year. Vermont will remain one of 17 states that has never sent a woman to the U.S. Senate.
• Incumbent U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D) is strongly favored to win re-election to Vermont’s at-large seat in the U.S. House in November.
• In Wisconsin, incumbent U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) is running for re-election in a general election contest currently rated as “Lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report. 
• In addition to incumbent U.S. Representative Gwen Moore (D) – who is strongly favored to win re-election – two (2D) non-incumbent women are major-party nominees for U.S. House in Wisconsin. Neither are currently favored to win in November.

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 2024 elections can be found on CAWP's Election Watch.