According to the Center for American Women in Politics, just 25 percent of Senators and 29 percent of House members are women. As usual, we're keeping track of the women on the ballot today who are looking to add to those numbers.
Both in Congress and on tonight's ballots, most of those women are Democrats:
Two key races where Democratic women are favored tonight are in Michigan. Democrats have an open primary in the state's purple 8th District, where incumbent Rep. Dan Kildee announced he would not seek reelection. EMILYs List is backing state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet; the seat is rated as a toss-up in November by Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball. Michigan's Senate race is also expected to be close, after Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced she would not seek reelection for the seat she's held since 2001. EMILYs List is also getting involved here, backing Rep. Elissa Slotkin (who currently represents the 7th District) in the primary, hoping to keep that seat not only blue, but represented by a woman.
A slate of women are also running in GOP primaries tonight, though fewer are favored to win:
GOP women's groups have backed their own candidate for Kildee's open 8th District seat. GOP women's groups VIEW PAC and Winning for Women are supporting Mary Draves, a former executive at Dow Chemical; but she's got an uphill battle in her primary, because Trump has endorsed Paul Junge, who lost to Kildee in 2022.
In Kansas, there could be a competitive Republican primary in the 3rd District, in a race to face off against the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Sharice Davids. VIEW PAC is backing small business owner Karen Crnkovich. However, the NRCC and party brass have lined up behind physician Prasanth Reddy.
It's a similar story in Washington's 3rd District, where Republicans are hoping to challenge Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who eked out a win in 2022 against former Green Beret Joe Kent. (That year, Kent rode Trump's endorsement in the primary to finish ahead of then-incumbent Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who had voted to impeach Trump). Kent is back, again with Trump's endorsement, though GOP women's groups VIEW PAC, Maggie's List, and Winning for Women are backing Leslie Lewallen, a former King County prosecutor.
Washington's 5th District is currently represented by a Republican woman, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is not seeking reelection. VIEW PAC and Maggie's List are backing state Rep. Jaquelin Maycumber in the hopes of keeping the seat in the hands of a GOP woman. But in a crowded primary for the open seat, she faces tough competition, particularly from Spokane County Treasurer and former state Sen. Michael Baumgartner.
I'll be watching these races (and more) today.
—Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor