Nikki Haley Makes History; California Will Have No Woman Senator

Primary elections for congressional and state races were held yesterday in Alabama, Arkansas, California, North Carolina, and Texas, with additional contests in the presidential primaries around the country, and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, has analyzed results for women candidates in March 5th contests. Full results for women in congressional and state races are available on this post on our Election Analysis page; with numerous races still too close to call, the full results post will update as contests are decided.

Among the most notable results thus far for women:

• Nikki Haley, who suspended her presidential campaign this morning, became the first woman to win a Republican presidential nominating contest when she won the Washington, D.C. primary earlier this week and the first woman to win a state Republican presidential primary when she won in Vermont yesterday. With 89 delegates earned thus far, Haley has earned the most delegates through nominating contests of any Republican woman in history, though final delegate votes will be determined at the Republican convention.
• California: For the first time in 32 years, California will not be represented by at least one woman in the U.S. Senate, as both candidates who advanced in California’s top-two primary for Senate are men. California is also the first state to have been represented by two women in the Senate.
• Texas: There will be woman vs. woman rematches in Texas’ 15th and 16th congressional districts. Learn more about these races throughout history at Woman vs. Woman: Congressional and Gubernatorial Races.
• Texas: Former Representative Mayra Flores is the Republican nominee in Texas’ 34th congressional district; she lost a race for this seat in 2022. Learn more about women who are mounting challenges in 2024 after a previous election loss at Rebound Women Candidates in 2024 Elections.
• Arkansas: Arkansas, which is currently represented by zero women in Congress, will likely see no change for women’s representation in its congressional delegation. Both women nominees are challengers to incumbents who are strongly favored to win re-election.
• Alabama: No change is likely in Alabama’s congressional delegation. Of the two women who won nomination, 1 (1D) is an incumbent in a race that favors her party and 1 (1D) is a challenger in a race favoring her opponent. Just one woman represents Alabama in Congress, Democrat Terri Sewell.
• North Carolina: Laurie Buckhout is the Republican nominee in North Carolina’s 1st congressional district, currently rated as a toss-up. Incumbent Kathy Manning (D) did not run for re-election, so North Carolina has the potential to maintain representation in its congressional delegation.

For full results for women candidates in yesterday's primary contests, see the Election Analysis post for March 5th primaries on the CAWP website. This post will update as results are determined in undecided races. For full context on women in the 2024 elections, visit CAWP's Election Watch.