Results from the September 10th Primaries in Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island

Primary elections were held on Tuesday in three states: Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. These contests are the final primary elections before November 5th. Full context about women in the 2024 elections, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, are available via the Center for American Women and Politics’ (CAWP) Election Watch.

Icon Key

  • U.S. Senate U.S. Senate
  • U.S. House U.S. House
  • Governor Governor
  • Statewide Executive Statewide Executive
  • Statewide Executive State Legislative
  • Historic Historic

Toplines

Delaware

U.S. Senate

Delaware U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) was unopposed in her primary bid for the U.S. Senate. She is strongly favored to become the first woman to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate and just the fourth Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate from any state.

Historic  

State Senator Sarah McBride (D) won the Democratic nomination for Delaware’s open, at-large U.S. House seat. She is strongly favored to win in November to become the first openly transgender person to serve in the U.S. Congress. 

Statewide Executive

State Senator Kyle Evans Gay (D) and former state Representative Ruth Briggs King (R) will compete in an all-woman, open-seat contest for lieutenant governor of Delaware. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long (D) was unsuccessful in her bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. 

New Hampshire

Governor

Former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R) and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D) are nominees in an all-woman contest for governor of New Hampshire. This contest is currently rated as a toss up by Cook Political Report

U.S. House 

Maggie Goodlander (D) and Lily Tang Williams (R) will compete in an all-woman U.S. House contest in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District to replace departing woman incumbent Ann McLane Kuster (D). This contest is currently rated as “Likely Democrat” by Cook Political Report, but – if successful – Republican nominee Tang Williams would be the first Asian American woman to represent New Hampshire in Congress.

Rhode Island

U.S. Senate

State Representative Patricia Morgan (R) won the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island. No woman has served in the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. This race is currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report

U.S. House  

No women ran for the U.S. House in Rhode Island in 2024. No woman has served in Congress from Rhode Island since 1991. 

Delaware

Nominees
U.S. Senate :

1 (1D)

U.S. House :

1 (1D)

State :

2 (1D, 1 R)

U.S. Senate U.S. Senate

Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, a woman is 1 of 2 (50%) major-party nominees for U.S. Senate in Delaware. 

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Current Cook Political Report Rating 

Lisa Blunt-Rochester

D

Open Seat

Black

Solid Democrat

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: No woman has ever served in the U.S. Senate from Delaware. 

Women Candidates in 2024: A woman was 1 of 2 (50%) major-party candidates for U.S. Senate in 2024.

Milestones to Watch in 2024: 

  • No woman has served in the U.S. Senate from Delaware.
  • No Black woman has served in the U.S. Senate from Delaware.
  • Just 3 (3D) Black women have served in the U.S. Senate. 

U.S. House U.S. House

Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, a woman is 1 of 2 (50%) major-party nominees for Delaware’s at-large, open U.S. House seat. One (1R) woman House candidate was unsuccessful. 

District

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Current Cook Political Report Rating 

At-Large

Sarah McBride

D

Open Seat

White

Solid Democrat

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: A woman – U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D) – currently holds Delaware’s at-large seat in the U.S. House. She is the only woman who has served in the U.S. Congress from Delaware. 

  • Blunt-Rochester is not running for re-election to the U.S. House; she is the Democratic nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat. 

Women Candidates in 2024: Two (1D, 1R) women filed as candidates for U.S. House seats in Delaware in 2024. This is not a record high. They were 2 of 5 (40%) total major-party candidates for U.S. House in 2024.

Milestones to Watch in 2024: 

  • No openly transgender people have served in the U.S. Congress.

Statewide Elective Executive Office Statewide Executive

Three of Delaware’s 6 statewide elective executive offices are up for election in 2024. 


Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, women are 2 of 6 (33.3%) major-party nominees for statewide elective executive office in Delaware, including 1 of 3 (33.3%) Democrats and 1 of 3 (33.3%) Republicans. Both will compete against each other in an all-woman general election contest for lieutenant governor.

Office

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Lieutenant Governor

Kyle Evans Gay

Democrat

Open Seat

White

Lieutenant Governor

Ruth Briggs King

Republican

Open Seat

White

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: Women currently hold 4 of 6 (66.7%) statewide elective executive offices in Delaware. Sixteen (10D, 6R) women have served in statewide elective executive offices in Delaware.  

Women Candidates in 2024: Five (4D, 1R) women filed as candidates for statewide elective executive office in Delaware in 2024. This is not a record high. They were 5 of 13 (38.5%) total major-party candidates for statewide elective executive office in 2024.

New Hampshire

Nominees
U.S. Senate :

n/a

U.S. House :

2 (1D, 1R)

State :

2 (1D, 1R)

U.S. Senate  U.S. Senate

There is no U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire in 2024.

U.S. House  U.S. House

Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, women are 2 of 4 (50%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in New Hampshire, including 1 of 2 (50%) Democrats and 1 of 2 (50%)  Republicans. 

The number of women major-party nominees for the U.S. House falls short of the previous high (3). Two (2R) women House candidates were unsuccessful. Both (1D, 1R) women nominees for U.S. House in New Hampshire are running in an all-woman contest for the open seat in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.

District

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Current Cook Political Report Rating 

2

Maggie Goodlander

Democrat

Open Seat

White

Likely Democrat

2

Lily Tang Williams

Republican

Open Seat

Asian American/Pacific Islander

Likely Democrat

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: A woman – Ann McLane Kuster (D) – currently holds 1 of 2 (50%) seats in the New Hampshire delegation to the U.S. House. Kuster is not running for re-election this year. Two (2D) women have served in the U.S. House from New Hampshire. 

Women Candidates in 2024: Four (1D, 3R) women filed as candidates for U.S. House seats in New Hampshire in 2024. This is not a record high. They were 4 of 20 (20%) total major-party candidates for U.S. House in 2024.

Milestones to Watch in 2024: 

  • No Asian American/Pacific Islander woman has served in the U.S. Congress from New Hampshire. 

Statewide Elective Executive Office  Statewide Executive

Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, women are 2 of 2 (100%) major-party nominees for governor of New Hampshire.  

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Current Cook Political Report Rating 

Kelly Ayotte

Republican

Open Seat

White

Toss Up Republican

Joyce Craig

Democrat

Open Seat

White

Toss Up Republican

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: Three (2D, 1R) women have previously served as governor of New Hampshire. 

Women Candidates in 2024: Three (2D, 1R) women filed as candidates for governor of New Hampshire in 2024. This is a record high. They were 3 of 9 (33.3%) total major-party candidates for governor in 2024.

Rhode Island

Nominees
U.S. Senate :

1 (1R)

U.S. House :

0

State :

n/a

U.S. Senate  U.S. Senate

Women Nominees in 2024: Based on primary election results, a woman is 1 of 2 (50%) major-party nominees for U.S. Senate in Rhode Island. 

Woman Nominee

Party

Seat Status

Race/Ethnicity

Current Cook Political Report Rating 

Patricia Morgan

Republican

Challenger

White

Solid Democrat

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: No woman has ever served in the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. 

Women Candidates in 2024: A woman was 1 of 4 (25%) major-party candidates for U.S. Senate in 2024.

Milestones to Watch in 2024: 

  • No woman has served in the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island.

U.S. House  U.S. House

Current/Historic Women’s Representation: No women currently serve in the U.S. House from Rhode Island. One (1R) woman has served in the U.S. House from Rhode Island. She left office in 1991. 

Women Candidates in 2024: No women filed as candidates for the U.S. House in Rhode Island in 2024. 


Statewide Elective Executive Office  Statewide Executive

There are no statewide elective executive elections in Rhode Island in 2024.

For primary results summaries from other states and full results, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, see CAWP’s Election Watch