Delaware was the last state to hold its regular congressional primary elections on Tuesday and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, the first and only woman to represent the state in the U.S. Congress, is expected to hold on to her House seat in November.
There are now record-breaking 298 women nominees — 204 Democrats and 94 Republicans — who will be competing in House races and 20 women nominees — 12 Democrats and 8 Republicans — who will be competing in Senate races, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
The previous record was set in 2018 when there were 234 women nominees who competed in House races.
The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Primaries were not held for House races in Louisiana, and a Senate special election in Georgia. Instead, in these states, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, will be on the same ballot in November’s general election.
Blunt Rochester, who is also the first Black lawmaker to represent Delaware in Congress, will face Republican Lee Murphy in November. The race is rated as solidly Democratic by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and Rochester is expected to hold onto the seat.
In Delaware’s Senate primaries, Republican Lauren Witzke won and will challenge Democrat Chris Coons in the general election. Witzke has retweeted theories and acronyms espoused by QAnon, a loosely organized far-right conspiracy group that believes President Donald Trump is waging a secret war against sex trafficking and a Deep State plot to bring down his presidency. That race is also rated as solidly Democratic and Coons is expected to win.
Also in Delaware on Tuesday, Republican Julianne Murray won her primary to challenge incumbent Democratic Governor John Carney. Carney is expected to prevail.
