Election 2024: Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states and other downballot races to watch for women

Kamala Harris won't be the only woman on the ballot today.
Kamala Harris won't be the only woman on the ballot today.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Good morning! A member of the Dimon family goes door-to-door for the Kamala Harris campaign, Linda Rendle’s Clorox recovered from a cyberattack, and stay grounded this Election Day!

– GOTV. Happy Election Day! Voters are heading to the polls, with the chance to elect the United States’ first female president. We could be in for a long week, with much more coverage of election results to come; in 2020, you may remember we didn’t know who won until Saturday. While we wait for the biggest news about the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, these are some downballot races and ballot propositions to keep an eye on tonight:

—Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states. In Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, and New York, voters have the chance to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions.

—In Florida, Missouri, and South Dakota, voters could override state abortion bans that have been enacted post-Roe.

—In Nebraska, dueling ballot measures would either enshrine abortion restrictions in the state constitution or “establish a right to abortion until fetal viability,” generally between 22 and 24 weeks. If both ballot measures are approved, the highest vote-getter becomes law.

—Nine female incumbents are running for reelection to the Senate, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Six women are running for open Senate seats—five Democrats and one Republican.

—Four women are running for open governor seats: Democrats Jennifer McCormick in Indiana, Crystal Quade in Missouri, and Joyce Craig in New Hampshire, who is facing off against Republican Kelly Ayotte.

—Across all categories, women’s representation among candidates is below records set in 2018, 2020, and 2022. In the House of Representatives this year, 258 women are running as party nominees, compared to a 2020 record of 298 (down 13%). Across state legislatures, 3,511 women are nominees compared to a record of 3,621 in 2022 (down 3%).

—Some experts say this dropoff can be attributed to the presidential contest overpowering Senate and House races in 2024; fewer districts are in play and numbers of men running are also down.

—It’s not just the White House; there are a host of “firsts” to watch out for. Delaware has two notable (and likely) ones: Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester would be the first Black woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate and Democrat Sarah McBride would be the first openly transgender person to serve in the U.S. Congress. The Center for American Women and Politics kindly keeps a running list of all possible “firsts;” you can peruse the rest here.

Stay tuned—we’ll see you with more news tomorrow.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Knock knock. Judy Dimon, wife of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, went door-to-door canvassing in Michigan for Vice President Kamala Harris. While her husband has not publicly endorsed a candidate, she has donated over $250,000 to the DNC and Harris campaign. Fortune

- Cyberattack aftermath. Clorox CEO Linda Rendle shared that last year’s cyberattack on the company severely hurt business, costing the company around a third of its distribution and market share. Now, though, Clorox is recovering, and has fully restored its distribution and supply, as well as most of its market share according to Rendle. CNBC

- No place like home. Around 20% of homebuyers are single women according to data from the National Association of Realtors; in comparison, 8% are single men. Also, the number of single female first-time homebuyers jumped up 5% from last year. Bloomberg

- Funding footwear. Michele Kang’s organization Kynisca led a $2 million seed funding round in IDA Sports, a footwear brand for female athletes. Kang, founder of tech company Cognosante and owner of multiple women’s soccer teams, said, “For too long, female players have been sidelined with subpar equipment, and IDA is breaking that mold.” Sports Illustrated

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

KiddeFenwal, a fire suppression systems developer, named Rekha Agrawa CEO. Most recently, she was an operating partner at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

BlytzPay, a payment platform, appointed Alison Andreozzi as president and CFO. Previously, she was CFO at CrossFit.

PinkDx, a women’s health early-stage diagnostics company, named Marra Francis chief medical officer.

Presidio, a technology services and solutions provider, appointed Lynne Doherty to its board of directors. She is president of field operations at Sonar.

ON MY RADAR

How a 178-year-old magazine stays relevant, one Instagram post at a time New York Times

25-year-old spent $300 on a sewing machine in high school—now her seven-figure denim brand is worn by Taylor Swift CNBC

They’re on their way to cancel their husband’s vote. Will it make a difference come Election Day? The 19th

PARTING WORDS

A strong and healthy democracy just means that we all have the freedom and ability to show up, to vote and choose the people who lead us, instead of having our leaders choose who can vote.

Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, on the importance of voting

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