Congressional primaries in Massachusetts on Tuesday have added at least one more all-women U.S. House of Representatives race to November’s general election lineup.
Democratic Representative Katherine Clark will face Republican Caroline Colarusso in the state’s 5th District. In the 4th District, at press time, Republican Julie Hall had won her primary and Democrat Jesse Mermell was nearly tied with Jake Auchincloss, possibly queuing up a second woman-versus-woman race in the state.
There are now 296 women — 202 Democrats and 94 Republicans — on House ballots in November and at least 51 races with two women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
There are currently 101 women — 88 Democrats and 13 Republicans — serving in the House. The record for all-woman contests was set in 2018 when there were 33, according to CAWP data.
Massachusetts’ three female House incumbents — Democrats Clark, Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan — were all unopposed in their primary races. Trahan and Pressley, the first Black woman to represent Massachusetts in the House, will likewise not face general-election opponents. They are all in districts rated solidly Democratic by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Two other female Republican challengers, Tracy Lovvorn and Helen Brady, will take on incumbent Democratic Representatives Jim McGovern and Bill Keating. Both of these districts are also rated solidly Democratic, making Massachusetts an unlikely state for Republican women to make House gains in November.
Elizabeth Warren represents Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate but she is not up for re-election this year. In a closely watched Democratic Senate primary, Senator Ed Markey fended off U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy. Markey will face Republican Kevin O’Connor in a race Markey is heavily favored to win.