Colorado Could Send First Black Woman to Congress and First Latina to Statewide Executive Office

Primary elections were held on Tuesday in Colorado. Full results for women candidates in federal and statewide executive races are available on this post on our Election Analysis page; there is one undecided race featuring a woman candidate, so this post will be updated once that contest is decided. In addition, runoff elections were held in Louisiana on Saturday; find updates about those races at our results from the May 16th primaries post.

Louisiana Runoff

• Representative Julia Letlow (R) won the runoff for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Saturday; this race is rated "Solid Republican" by Cook Political Report. If elected, Letlow would be the first Republican woman to serve in the Senate from Louisiana. Primary results for women in Louisiana elections can be found here; however, U.S. House primary elections in Louisiana were postponed for redistricting and will be held on Election Day 2026 using the state’s previous open primary system. 

Colorado

• Women are 7 of 16 (43.8%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Colorado, including 4 of 8 (50%) Democrats and 3 of 8 (37.5%) Republicans. 
• Attorney Melat Kiros (D) defeated incumbent Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D) for the Democratic nomination in Colorado’s First Congressional District. If elected, she will be the first Black woman to represent Colorado in Congress. She will face Christy Peterson (R) in an all-women race that is currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report. Find more information about all-women general election contests, in 2026 and historically, here.
• With DeGette’s loss, at least 17 (12D, 5R) women incumbents will leave the U.S. House at the end of this term, including 7 (6D, 1R) women who are retiring, 8 (4D, 4R) women who are running/ran for other offices, and 2 (2D) women who have lost their primary elections.
• Women are 2 of 7 (28.6%) major-party nominees for statewide elective executive office in Colorado, both of whom are Democrats. Women are 2 of 4 (50%) Democrats and 0 of 3 (0%) Republicans. State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer (R) is in a race that is too close to call for the Republican nomination for governor. The race is currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
• Current Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) won the Democratic nomination for attorney general. 
• Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzales (D) won the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. If elected, she would be the first Latina to serve in statewide elective executive office in Colorado.

For more information, see the full analysis of how women fared in yesterday's contests on our Election Analysis page. Complete context about women in the 2026 elections can be found on CAWP's Election Watch.