It’s been a big election month, especially in New Jersey and Virginia. Now, the sprint to Nov. 4 has begun, and we’ve got a primer on how that should look (spoiler: It will be close).

Democratic primaries for the most-competitive Republican-held US House seats are also filling up—including many primaries with multiple women. On the US Senate front, the fields are largely set, and those candidates are starting to campaign heavily. Be on the lookout for more Senate candidates to pop up on our monthly calls.

Finally—happy Pride Month! Despite the appalling recent ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld state bans on providing gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, our Pride is not dampened. In fact, we’re using it to fuel our mission: Electing more Democratic women, especially LGBTQ women like Govs. Maura Healey and Tina Kotek, who many of our groups will be hosting this cycle.

10th Anniversary Update

In case you missed it in this month’s 10th Anniversary email: Our staff is growing!

Shelby Friedman is coming on board as the Donor Engagement Director, Danielle Musoff as the Donor Engagement Manager, and Wendy Vang-Roberts as the Executive & Operations Manager. Shelby and Dani form the core of our new Donor Engagement team, which has primary responsibility for overseeing EWA Groups and related activities. Wendy will support operations for WomenCount and EWA and also spend a portion of her time working with Stacy and Annalise to support Electing Women Bay Area.

📣 Read the full new staff announcement on our website.

US Senate: A Look at the Republicans

The Democratic field for 2026 US Senate races has been pretty stable this month, so we’re going to change gears and take a look at who’s running on the other side in the states where we are likely to have a female Democratic nominee.

Illinois: With the Prairie State being a pretty Democratic one, there are not a ton of credible Republican candidates who have declared. But one name looming over the Republican nomination is former Democratic Gov. and convicted felon Rod Blagojevich, who received a pardon from Trump in 2020. Democrats include Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and US Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Minnesota: Though the North Star State is still fairly blue, it’s been trending disturbingly toward the right in statewide contests over the last decade. That being said, Republicans have been slow to make moves here as well. Former NBA player and 2024 nominee Royce White—who lost to US Sen. Amy Klobuchar by 16 points—has declared, and state Sen. Julia Coleman—daughter of former US Sen. Norm Coleman—is said to be considering a run. Democrats include Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and US Rep. Angie Craig.

Michigan: Races on both sides of the aisle are getting heated in the Great Lakes State. Former US Rep. Mike Rogers—who ran against US Sen. Elissa Slotkin last year—is the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, though he’s expected to be joined soon by US Rep. Bill Huizenga (which in turn will shift the race for MI-4 in Democrats’ favor). Democrats include state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, US Rep. Haley Stevens, former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and former state House Speaker Joe Tate.

Other News

Lt. Gov. Flanagan remembers Melissa Hortman as ‘dedicated and selfless’ [MPR]

Why lesbian Rep. Angie Craig says she’s ‘ready for the fight’ in her run to be Minnesota’s next U.S. senator [The Advocate]

‘Missing the point’: Haley Stevens doesn’t want to talk about Schumer [Semafor]

McMorrow disputes Noem’s ‘northern border crisis’ [MI Advance]

Five Things To Watch in the Battle for the Senate [Cook Political Report]

How Senate Democrats’ campaign chair sees the 2026 map [NBC News]

Scott Brown launches campaign for Senate in New Hampshire [Politico]

Rating Changes: Iowa Senate, ME-2, and More [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]

US House: Challengers Line Up

Since we last took a look at competitive US House races in March, challengers have been lining up at a rapid pace, and many of them are women. Right now there are nine Republican-held seats the Cook Political Report lists as toss up races, and women are currently frontrunners or competitive in all but one of them.

Here’s who we’re watching:

AZ-1: Marlene Galán-Woods, who lost in the primary last year, is the only woman so far among six declared candidates, the most formidable of whom is the winner of last year’s primary, former state Rep. Amish Shah. The nominee will face US Rep. Dave Schweikert.
AZ-6: JoAnna Mendoza, a retired US Marine who worked on veterans’ affairs for former US Rep. Tom O’Halleran, is the only woman in an eight-candidate field. Her background should make her an easy frontrunner for the nomination, but it’s too early to tell. The nominee will face US Rep. Juan Ciscomani.
CO-8: Former US Rep. Yadira Caraveo has already declared for the seat she lost last year, but she faces two heavy-hitting female primary challengers: Colorado state Rep. Shannon Bird and former teachers union head Amie Baca-Oehlert. Dave Young, the Colorado state treasurer, has also declared. The nominee will face freshman US Rep. Gabe Evans.
IA-1: Christina Bohannan, a former state representative who was the nominee for this district in 2022 and 2024, has already declared. Her most credible primary challenger is former state Rep. Bob Krause. The nominee will face US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
MI-7: Bridget Brink, the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, entered the race a week ago with a full-throated defense of American diplomacy. She is the only declared candidate, but five others—including former state Rep. Donna Lasinski and current state Sen. Sarah Anthony—are weighing runs. The nominee will face US Rep. Tom Barrett.
NE-2: Denise Powell, co-founder of the candidate training organization Women Who Run Nebraska, is the only woman in the primary. Of the three men, current state Sen. John Cavanaugh is the most credible. Incumbent US Rep. Don Bacon has announced he is not running for re-election.
PA-7: Carol Obando-Derstine, who formerly worked on Latino affairs in Gov. Tom Wolf’s office and in the US Senate, is currently the only woman and the frontrunner. Former US Rep. Susan Wild, who lost this seat last year, has endorsed her. The nominee will face freshman US Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.
PA-10: Currently there are no declared Democrats in this race, though Janelle Stelson—who lost to incumbent US Rep. Steve Perry last year by a little more than 1 percent—is said to be seriously considering another run.
WI-3: This is currently a woman-only primary featuring Rebecca Cooke, the nominee last cycle; current Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge; and former Eau Claire City Councilor Laura Benjamin. State Sen. Brad Pfaff is also considering a run. The nominee will face US Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

A note on the special election in VA-11: Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw won the special election primary on Saturday for this heavily Democratic seat that’s been empty since Democratic US Rep. Gerry Connolly passed away in May. The race featured nine other candidates—six of whom were women.

Other News

The 16-Day Sprint to Succeed Gerry Connolly [Cook Political Report]

Finger pointing and middle fingers as Dem AZ-7 debate heats up. [AZ Luminaria]

Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones announces bid to succeed Turner in Congress [TX Tribune]

NY’s Hudson Valley Hosts Democrats’ Most Crowded Primary [Cook Political Report]

What Trump’s First Midterm Tells Us About 2026 [Cook Political Report]

A Big Sort Lowers the Odds of a Big Wave [Sabato’s Crystal Ball]

Trump’s 5-step push to keep GOP control of the House in ’26 [Axios]

Republicans might redraw House maps in Texas to protect majority from the midterm curse [TX Public Radio]

State & Local: VA + NJ Recap

June was a big month for state primaries. In New Jersey, US Rep. Mikie Sherrill beat the rest of the 6-candidate field with 34 percent, and in Virginia, former US Rep. Abigail Spanberger did not face a primary—having been already formally nominated—but we did see nearly every candidate from our Virginia is for Women event notch a win.

🗳️ Read our post-Virginia primary rundown for a full results.

Now, the hard(er) part starts: The general election.

New Jersey is not as reliably Democratic as we think. It had a Republican governor (Chris Christie) for eight years before the current Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, who won re-election in 2021 with just 51 percent of the vote. The guy who almost beat him—former state legislator Jack Ciattarelli—is also this year’s Republican nominee. Polling from the last two months shows Mikie with a lead, but as we saw in the primary, a barrage of negative ads coupled with undecideds hovering in the high teens will make this a close race.

Virginia will also be a competitive race: The most recent polling shows it 52 to 48 in favor of Abigail. This is one of the most flippable governor seats in the 2025-26 cycle, and winning big would be a major boost for Democrats heading into the midterm elections. A strong showing at the top of the ticket will also be critical for expanding the Democratic majority in the Virginia General Assembly (1 seat in each chamber). As we noted in our email from last week, a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights is at stake.

That’s why we’re urging all of our groups to host Mikie and Abigail as soon as possible. If you need help with logistics, please reach out to Shelby Friedman at shelby@electingwomen.org.