Women in These 8 States Made Huge Strides in Tuesday's Primary Elections

Voters in eight states—California, New Jersey, Montana, Iowa, New Mexico, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Dakota—went to the polls Tuesday to take part in their primary elections. Now that the results are in, it's clear women took some big steps toward making election history.

Here's a brief breakdown of the takeaways in the key judicial, congressional, and gubernatorial races across the country yesterday, and why they place women at the the top of the political conversation leading up to November's midterm elections.

Michele Dauber led California voters to oust Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky.

Persky's name became news after he sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to a mere six months in jail on felony sexual assault charges. (He was released after three.)

Persky's name came to appear on the ballot after a campaign to recall him gathered close to 95,000 signatures, more than the 58,634 valid signatures needed to qualify the recall, according to the Mercury News. He previously ran unopposed in 2016, just after the Turner verdict. Without the recall vote, he would not have been up for reelection until 2022.

Chair of the Recall Persky Campaign, Michele Dauber, issued a statement to CNN, saying, "We are cautiously optimistic. Tonight's results mirror what we heard while we were out talking to voters. We are thankful for our supporters and every person who donated their time—it truly made a difference."

Persky's likely replacement is prosecutor Cindy Hendrickson, perhaps a fitting signifier in the #MeToo era.

New Mexico is one step closer to electing America's first Native American congresswoman.

Deb Haaland won her three-way Democratic primary in the state's First Congressional District and is well-positioned to take the seat in November.

"Tonight New Mexico made history," Haaland said in a speech Tuesday. She called her win a "victory for working people, a victory for women, and a victory for everyone who has been sidelined by the billionaire class."

New Mexico also became the fourth state with the possibility of electing the first nonwhite woman governor in U.S. history.

Representative Lujan Grisham, whose congressional seat Haaland is running for, is now the Democratic nominee for governor. That brings us to four states—along with Georgia, Texas, and Idaho—that could potentially elect a nonwhite woman to their state's highest office.

In November she will face Rep. Steve Pearce, who went unchallenged in the Republican primary. While the state currently has a Republican governor, it has voted Democratic in the past three presidential elections.

South Dakota may elect its first woman governor ever in November.

State Rep. Kristi Noem defeated Marty Jackley in the GOP primary. She will face state Senate Democratic leader (and former professional rodeo cowboy) Billie Sutton in November. Noem is highly favored to win in the deeply conservative state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 1974.

Iowa may elect the youngest woman ever to Congress in the fall.

Abby Finkenauer is the Democratic nominee for the First Congressional District. A win in November would make her the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at age 29, beating the current record of 30 held by Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.

Criticism of Donald Trump may hurt Republican candidates in red states.

Incumbent GOP Rep. Martha Roby was forced into a runoff in Alabama in July. She unendorsed Trump back in 2016 after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. She said at the time, "I cannot look my children in the eye and justify a vote for a man who promotes and boasts about sexually assaulting women."

A voting snafu in Los Angeles could delay results in key races.

Approximately 118,522 voters' names were omitted from the rolls at 1,430 polling stations in Los Angeles County. A printing error on the voter roster seems to be the cause, according to CNN, which could affect results in the gubernatorial primary and the race to replace retiring Rep. Ed Royce in Orange County, whose district includes part of Los Angeles County.