Could Women Succeed Term-Limited Women Governors in Kansas and Michigan?

Primary elections were held on Tuesday in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Washington, and Virginia. Full results for women candidates in federal and statewide executive races are available on this post on our Election Analysis page; there are multiple undecided races featuring women candidates, so this post will be updated once those contests are decided.
 

Kansas

• Kansas state Senator Cindy Holscher (D) won the Democratic nomination for governor of Kansas. This open-seat contest is currently rated as “Lean Republican” by Cook Political Report. Incumbent Governor Laura Kelly (D) is term-limited in 2026.
• Two (2D) women won other statewide elective executive office nominations in open-seat contests for insurance commissioner and secretary of state in Kansas.
• Based on primary election results, women are 3 of 8 (37.5%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Kansas, including 3 of 4 (75%) Democrats and 0 of 4 (0%) Republicans. Of the women nominees for U.S. House, only incumbent U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D) is currently favored to win in November.

Michigan

• Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) won the Democratic nomination for governor of Michigan. This open-seat contest is currently rated as “Lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report. Incumbent Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) is term-limited in 2026. If Benson is successful, Michigan would become the fifth state to have had three or more women governors throughout its history. 
• Incumbent U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D) was unsuccessful in her bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
• Based on primary election results, women are 9 of 25 (36%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Michigan, including 6 of 12 (50%) Democrats and 3 of 13 (23.1%) Republicans.
  • Of the 5 (4D, 1R) incumbent women nominees, all but one (1D) are strongly favored to win re-election; U.S. Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet (D) is running for re-election in a contest that is currently rated as “Lean Democrat” in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District.
  • Of the 4 (2D, 2R) non-incumbent women nominees, all but one (1D) are running in contests that strongly favor their opponents; Christina Hines (D) is the Democratic nominee in an open-seat contest that is currently rated as “Lean Republican” in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.

Missouri

• Based on primary election results, women are 3 of 16 (18.8%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Missouri, including 2 of 8 (25%) Democrats and 1 of 8 (12.5%) Republicans. Only U.S. Representative Ann Wagner (R) is currently favored to win in November, which would leave House representation the same from 2026 to 2027.

Washington

• Based on primary election results, women are 9 of 18 (50%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Washington, including 6 of 9 (66.7%) Democrats and 3 of 9 (33.3%) Republicans. Two (1D, 1R) women candidates are in two primary contests that remain too close to call. 
  • Of the 6 (6D) incumbent women nominees, all but one (1D) are strongly favored to win re-election; U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) is running for re-election in a contest that is currently rated as a toss up in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
  • One (1R) of three (3R) non-incumbent women nominees for U.S. House is favored to win in November; Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney (R) advanced to the open-seat general election in Washington’s 4th Congressional District, which is currently rated as “Solid Republican” by Cook Political Report. 
  • There will be two all-woman U.S. House contests in November in Washington’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts. Learn more about all-woman congressional and gubernatorial races, in 2026 and historically, on this CAWP fact page.

Virginia

• Based on primary election results, women are 6 of 22 (27.3%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Virginia, including 5 of 11 (45.5%) Democrats and 1 of 11 (9.1%) Republicans. 
  • Incumbent U.S. Representative Jen Kiggans (R) will be challenged by former U.S. Representative Elaine Luria (D) in an all-woman contest in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District that is currently rated as a toss up by Cook Political Report. Kiggans unseated Luria in the 2022 election, where she won the contest by 3.4 points. 
  • The other incumbent U.S. representative, Jennifer McClellan (D), is strongly favored to win re-election in November.
  • Two (2D) of four (4D) women non-incumbent nominees for U.S. House are currently considered competitive in the November election; in addition to former U.S. Representative Luria (D), Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor (D) will challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Robert Wittman (R) in a general election contest in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District that is currently rated as “Lean Republican” by Cook Political Report. 

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.