In a Record-Breaking Election Year for Women, Here Are the Races to Watch

Women make up about half the U.S. population. They vote more than men. They have for decades. And yet women comprise only 23 percent of the U.S. Senate, 19 percent of the House, and a quarter of state legislatures, per the Center for Women and American Politics. Just six currently serve as governors, and 22 states have never elected a woman for that job.

In this critical midterm election—the first under President Donald Trump—female candidates are running (and winning) to change the face of American power. As of September 14, according to a CAWP tally, a total of 234 women—182 Democrats and 52 Republicans—had won House nominations, blowing past the 2016 record of 167 nominees. There are also new records for U.S. Senate and governor nominations won by women.

Some expect brutal fights all the way to November; for lucky others, winning their primaries was the hard part.

Glamour is here to help you keep track of some of the most exciting midterm candidates and contests with a new “Women to Watch” tip sheet—and to remind you to vote on November 6.

Check it out:

Women Who Could Make History

A record number of women are capturing nominations in primaries, but it’s the November vote that decides whether those “firsts” will actually take office. A snapshot:

In May, Georgia Democrats backed lawyer and writer Stacey Abrams for governor—the first time in history a woman became the nominee for the state. Abrams could become the nation’s first black female governor (there are currently zero African American governors, male or female) if she defeats the Republican nominee, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Recent polling has the Abrams-Kemp contest as a dead heat.

More recently, Vermont updated the history books when Democratic voters made Christine Hallquist America’s first major-party transgender nominee for governor. Hallquist, a former energy executive, is up against incumbent Republican Governor Phil Scott in what forecasters say could be a tough race for her to win.

Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib has gotten through the tough part: With a Democratic primary win secured and no Republican opponent on November’s ballot, the attorney and former state legislator is all but certain to replace retired Representative John Conyers in the next Congress, which would make her the first Palestinian American Muslim woman to serve in the House.

In Minnesota a Somali American Muslim woman, Ilhan Omar, is up against Republican Jennifer Zielinski for a seat in the House.

South Dakota has never had a female governor, and with Trump’s help, Republican Representative Kristi Noem is trying to change that. Noem, first elected to Congress in 2010, describes herself as “an experienced small-business owner, a lifelong farmer and rancher—and above all else, a mother.” She’s up against Democratic state Senator Billie Sutton, a community banking executive whose rodeo career ended after a debilitating accident, and Libertarian Kurt Evans. The Cook Political Report rates the race as solidly Republican.

Also getting a hand from the president: Representative Marsha Blackburn, the first woman nominated to the Senate by Republican voters in Tennessee. She’s vying to be the first-ever female senator from the Volunteer State. A recent Fox News poll showed Blackburn narrowly leading her Democratic opponent, ex-governor Phil Bredesen, in the race to succeed retiring Senator Bob Corker. The contest has already featured a dustup over a Democratic congressman who said Blackburn would jump off a bridge if Trump told her to—and wished that would happen.

Deb Haaland of New Mexico could become the first Native American woman in Congress. She won a three-way Democratic primary in June. Haaland’s November rival, Republican Janice Arnold-Jones, recently got serious backlash for saying that although Haaland is indeed of Laguna descent, she’s “a military brat, just like I am”—and that campaign-trail talk of Haaland’s background “evokes images that she was raised on a reservation.”

In New England Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Jahana Hayes of Connecticut could be the first women of color sent to Congress from their home states.

Women With Military Backgrounds

Women have had a long fight for respect and equality in the military, and obviously the same is true in politics. A few candidates have a foot in both worlds, or would like to.

In Texas, Democrat MJ Hegar’s run for Congress has epitomized the “Be yourself—no, really, be yourself” approach women are taking on the trail in the 2018 cycle. Her viral campaign videos have capitalized on a résumé that includes "three tours in Afghanistan as a rescue helicopter pilot, being shot down by enemy fire, defending my crew and patients, and earning a Purple Heart," as well as her work with the ACLU to get the military to open more roles to women. The Air Force veteran is also mom to two very young kids and three older stepchildren. Hegar, a recipient of an M.B.A. from the University of Texas and an expert marksman, could represent the first serious challenge in years to District 31 incumbent GOP Representative John Carter.

Another Air Force veteran, Republican Representative Martha McSally, is also touting her military record as she vies with Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema to become the first woman ever to represent Arizona in the Senate. McSally, elected to Congress after retiring from the Air Force at the rank of colonel, is a Bronze Star recipient who was "the first woman in U.S. history to fly a fighter jet in combat." McSally hasn’t shied from contrasting her martial past with Sinema’s, including in an attack ad that compared her service in the Middle East with her rival’s past antiwar activism.

In Kentucky, retired Marine Amy McGrath, a Democrat, looks like she's making incumbent GOP Representative Andy Barr fight to keep his job. Barr's first attack ad against McGrath may have misread the audience—and the political times—by sliming her as "a feminist," and his campaign has apparently switched to dissing her as "too liberal.” In what’s been dubbed one of the country’s most competitive midterm contests, McGrath is a first-time candidate whose track record is that of a decorated combat pilot with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown—and a mom, which brings us to…

Women Campaigning While Parenting

This campaign season has featured legions of female candidates embracing motherhood—and even, in a few cases, motherhood-to-be.

Some candidates caught national attention by being super out-front about mixing politics and parenting, but ended up not making it past the primaries. There was Republican Christina Hagan, an Ohio legislator who announced during her run for Congress that she was expecting twins. Democrat Kelda Roys breastfed in a commercial for her ultimately unsuccessful bid for governor of Wisconsin. New York’s Zephyr Teachout full-on embraced her pregnancy during a failed primary bid for state attorney general. Teachout, who had the backing of progressive rising star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, campaigned on an anticorruption, anti-Trump platform and ran an ad that showed her having a sonogram.

Congressional hopeful Liuba Grechen Shirley, another New York Democrat, blazed a new trail this spring when she won Federal Election Commission approval to use campaign money to pay for child care. Shirley, an activist and mother of two preschoolers, went on to win a primary against a (male) opponent. That advanced her to a November face-off with Republican Representative Peter King, a nationally noted figure in homeland security legislation who has 25 years in office—and last got reelected with more than 62 percent of the vote.

In what's shaping up to be one of America’s priciest Congressional battles, Democrat Lauren Baer is challenging GOP Representative Brian Mast, an Army vet who lost his lower legs while serving in Afghanistan. Baer, a foreign policy analyst in the Obama administration, has a young daughter, Serena, with her wife, Emily Meyers. If she pulls out a win in the swath of Florida known as the Treasure Coast, Baer would be the first woman in a same-sex marriage to serve in Congress.

California Democrat Katie Porter is up against incumbent Republican Congresswoman Mimi Walters in another closely watched race: Porter, a law professor and consumer advocate, is a mother of three who has spoken openly about leaving a marriage she said was marked by domestic violence. The battle between Porter and Walters, who says her Democratic foe is way too liberal for the SoCal district, has attracted big money and could be a fight to the November finish. The election is among races that showcase…

Women Competing Against Other Women

Female candidates are striving to get to D.C. (or the governor’s mansion), to even the field with men—and to help determine whether control of the House, if not the Senate, stays with the Republicans or tilts to the Democrats.

As CAWP’s Kelly Dittmar told Glamour in May, from a gender perspective, some of these races are a zero-sum game: One woman will win. The other will lose. Back then, Dittmar used Pennsylvania as an example. Right now it's the biggest state without a single woman in Congress. That will change after November: Either Republican Pearl Kim or Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon will end up the congresswoman for Keystone State District Five.

Now that the federal primary season is over, more than 30 contests for the Senate, House, and governor have women as both the Democratic and Republican nominees.

In Virginia, could GOP Representative Barbara Comstock fall to Democrat Jennifer Wexton? Will Wisconsin stick with Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin or elect Republican Leah Vukmir? Will Florida send Democrat Donna Shalala or Republican Maria Salazar to Washington?

A long, long list of factors are at play this Election Day. Seats could be up for grabs, or a sitting congresswoman may be defending her job against a challenger. Outside groups are spending millions to influence the results. Certain voters may turn out in droves—or stay home—based on everything from late-game advertising to hot-button local issues to, yes, the weather.

Lots of these votes are going down in states known as Republican red or Democratic blue…traditionally. But the 2018 midterms go way, way beyond old-school rules. This November many Americans face a choice between Trump-style Republicans and profoundly liberal Democrats who fought to get on the ballot as a rejection of the President himself.

Stay tuned as Glamour tracks the dash to Election Day and beyond—and don’t just stay on the sidelines.

Get ready. Get to the polls. Get heard.

In a pivotal election year, Glamour is keeping track of the historic number of women running (and voting) in the midterm elections. For more on our latest midterm coverage, visit www.glamour.com/midterms.

Celeste Katz is senior political reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.